Telephone Call Receiving Procedure (Must Read)
Dear Readers, here in this Free Hotel Management Training Blog, i shared lots of tips and techniques to handle telephone properly. I do believe those writings really help you to learn how to handle any telephone call professionally. Today I will share a detail tutorial on telephone etiquette. I am confident enough that this tutorial will solve your all sorts of queries regarding handling telephone in different situation at the same time you could implement some tips i have shared here. My prime goal is to make you understand how to ensure consistent standard of handling calls to give a good impression to your guest. So, let’s learn the tricks.
Things You Should Learn:1: You Should Know:
- Your system first. You should be able to identify what is external & what is internal call.
- How to transfer a call.
- Some frequently use telephone code
- Country code for outbound calls
- How to put your caller in hold
- How to use different phrase while talking
- How to receive other’s call in your phone, etc
2: You should always have pen or pencil and small note books to write down message or notes.
3: Answer a telephone call within 3 rings.
4: If you receive an internal call then you should start with a greeting then your department name then your name then ask how you can assist him. For example: Good Evening, Front Desk, Tanji speaking, how may i help you?
5: For an external call follow this procedure: Greeting then your hotel’s name then ask how you can assist him. For example: Good Morning, Abc Hotel, How may i help you?
Professional Telephone Etiquette:
A: During Call:
- People easily become friendly and feel happy if you call him by his name. So, first insure how should you address him and then call him by his name.
- While talking for quite a long time shows your caller that you are eagerly listening to him. So sometimes making noises like “hmm”, “yes”, “ok”, “I understand” can make the conversation spontaneous. Otherwise in middle of a long discussing if you keep silent for the whole time your caller may be confused whether you are listing or whether you are still on line or not. So, don’t make your caller confused.
- Receiving call demands deep attention. If you talking over telephone and at the same time doing other business then you cannot concentrate on anything. So, if you really have to finish another job then it is better to hold the caller or tell him that you will call him after a certain period of time.
- Make your tone as friendly as possible. Try to smile while talking. The way you talk reflects in your tone.
- Don’t neglect any call. Take it as a business opportunity for your organization.
- If you or the caller cannot listen to other then offer him to call back.
B: Other People’s Call:
- Don’t say you don’t you whether the person is whom the caller looking for. Tell him that you will call him back after locating him.
- If you can’t find that person then offer the caller to receive any message on behalf of that person.
- If you know when the person will be available then suggest the caller to call him.
- Don’t share any personal contact address as long you are not sure enough about the caller.
Widely Used Phrases:
Now we will learn some most common widely used phrases and expressions used while handling calls:
- Sometimes by hearing the tone you may not identify whether you caller is male or female. It is better to ask “How should I address you?” or “May I have your name please?”
- If you need to transfer any call then say “Please allow me to transfer your call to Mr. X. Could you please hold down for a minute?” After that if the caller allows you and says Yes or Ok then transfer the call.
- If you found the extension is not reachable or dead then say “Thanks for holding. But I am afraid Mr. Y is not available. Would you like to leave a message for him or call back later?”
- If you found the extension is busy then say “Thanks for holding. Mr. Y is busy and still on line. Would you like to leave a message for him or call back later?”
- While finishing a conversation say “Thank you Mr. X for calling. Have a nice day.”
- Some common phrases are: “May I have your name please”, “May I have your contact number please”, “Mr. X please let me repeat the message…..Is that all right?”, “Mr. X could you please hold down for a minute?”
Taking Message:
Always keep pad, pen or pencil to receive any message. When you take any message try to write down these points of information in clear handwriting so that you can understand next time:
- Date & Time of the message
- Callers name
- Reason of Calling
- Message he left to deliver
- Name of the Guest, caller calls
- Guest’s room number
- Callers telephone number, etc
Good & Bad Practices:
| Bad Practice | Good Practice |
| Just start a conversation with only “Hello” or “Department Name” or “Hotel’s Name” | Start with greeting and then follow the procedure we discussed at the beginning. |
| Avoid taking responsibility in the way like “I am not working in HR department”. | If you are not the person whom caller need then transfer to the appropriate person. |
| Requesting to hold down as because you don’t find you pen or pad. | You should always keep your Pen, pad or pencil. |
| Being silent while talking for a long time. | Must make some noises like “Hmm”, “Ok”, “Yes”, “I Understand” etc. |
| Use plain language | Use some Magic words like “Certainly”, “You are right”, “I do understand”, “Thank you” etc |
| Taking wrong or incomplete message | Pay deep attention while talking message and then repeat and be sure you have taken proper message. |
| Don’t take follow up | While transferring any call or message be careful to take follow ups. |
| Give personal information about guest | You can’t share guest information or room number to any unknown person. You should only transfer a call or take message on behalf of him |