Let us be perfectly clear. We LOVE talking to our customers. After all, the very foundation of MeloTel is the advent of cloud-hosted telephony. What kind of company would we be if our team members didn’t like being on the phone? We admit we’ve been known to chat it up quite a bit. And we’re only too pleased to engage in friendly chats with our clients and colleagues.
At the same time, we do have a business to run. So, naturally we can’t necessarily sit on the phone, shooting the you-know-what, all day long. Every now and again, we have to cut our conversations short in order to move on to other conversations with other clients or tackle the pressing issues that await us each day. We’re guessing you’ve encountered very similar situations during your days at work.
So what are the best ways to politely get a customer off the phone?
Offer your caller a sandwich.
Early last week, we wrote about the need for employers to offer each of their employees a sandwich. The advice, you’ll remember, wasn’t to be taken literally. Instead, we were referring to the feedback technique of offering praise, following it up with constructive criticism and ending the feedback session with more appreciation. Why not use a similar approach to getting off the phone with a talkative customer?
Here’s an example: “I really enjoy our conversations. I wish I didn’t have to take this next call right now. However, I’m sure I’ll have the pleasure of speaking with you again soon.”
On TheBalanceSMB.com, James Bucki offers up a couple of his own examples.
“Well, congratulations on the new house! I’m going to wrap up so I can take this next call, but please let me know if there’s anything else you need. You have my number.”
“It’s been nice speaking with you, but I need to wrap up. Can we set a time for our next call?”
Find a way to continue the conversation another time.
The end of a phone call doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end of the conversation. Most people know that. So don’t be afraid to say something along the lines of “It was great talking to you today, let’s be sure to speak again next week.” As well, it’s perfectly acceptable to inform your caller that you need to provide service to other customers. “It looks as if I have another call coming in. I look forward to speaking with you again soon” is a good way to end a call.
On UsingEnglish.com, Case provides a couple examples of his own:
“So, I’d love to talk more/ chat more but my client has just arrived. As I said, I’ll email you the report in the next couple of days.”
“There are a couple more things I’d love to get your advice on but I have a teleconference at two. Do you have time to talk on Wednesday?”
For a dose of how fun it is to speak to the MeloTel team on the phone, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL. Be sure to ask us about our cloud-hosted Commercial Phone Services! Be sure to check back for our next blog tomorrow as we’ll continue to explore this topic.
