1. Telephone and Digital Communication
Chapter 12

2. 9/19/2018
Objectives
Detail the essential customer service skills needed when communicating over the phone.
Describe the purpose and extent of business use of voice and virtual technologies.
Evaluate the quality and delivery of your service voice when speaking on the phone.
Distinguish between inbound and outbound telemarketing activities.
Identify and describe Web-driven service technologies.

3. Telephone Language/Phrases
Fill in the worksheet with what you would say in each scenario given
Each line is for a different response

4. Advantages/Disadvantages
What are advantages of talking over the phone with customers?
What are disadvantages of talking over the phone with customers?

5. Answering the Phone
Telephone greetings help form first impressions with customers.
Key elements of a telephone greeting:
The department or company name
Your name
An offer of assistance
For example: “Customer service, this is Melissa. How may I help you?”

6. The Basic Process
Stay close to the phone, answering by the third ring.
Be courteous and polite with each caller.
Use a computer or have paper and pencil handy to take notes.
Bring closure to the call.

7. Telephone Tips Use welcoming words Use the caller’s name often
“I’ll be glad to help you”
Use the caller’s name often
Maintain an enthusiastic & personable tone
Be flexible
First call resolution
Avoid negative & controlling words
Avoid using abbreviations & technical language
Give verbal clues to show you are actively listening
“I see”, “Please tell me more”
Promise to call back on unresolved issues & then follow through

8. Answering Phone Calls
Form a group of 2-3 & write the messages you would use to respond to the 3 phone-answering situations below.
Assume you are working for First City Bank. When calls come in, they go directly to your phone; there is no receptionist. How should you answer each call?
Assume you are an employee in the registration office of a local career school. All calls are first answered by a receptionist & then transferred to your desk. How should you answer each call?
When your boss is not available, you answer your phone. What should you say when she is in a meeting? What should you say when she is on a coffee break?

9. Transferring Calls Strategies to use:
State what you can do, not what you cannot do.
Avoid using the word “transfer.”
Pass along customer information to the next person.
Stay on the line.
Do not transfer the customer, if that is his or her preference.

10. Placing Callers on Hold
Tell the caller why you would like to put him or her on hold, and ask for permission to do so.
Keep callers on hold no longer than 30 seconds.
Thank the customer for holding.
Offer to call the customer back instead of putting him or her on hold.
Check back frequently if having to be on hold longer.

11. Discussion
How many times within the past few weeks have you been put through voic jail and were never connected to a live person? Did the experience influence your decision to buy from this business in the future?

12. Phone Etiquette https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54xYxV1S oaU
Respond to the following:
List tips in order to transform your customer’s experience
How to manage multiple lines
How to handle difficult callers: what you never say
Tips on screening calls

13. Crazy Customers
Create an awkward (yet still school appropriate) scenario in which a customer is talking to you. (hitting on you, asking for a weird request, obvious prank phone call, etc.)
Give your scenario to Ms. Engel
You will receive another group’s scenario and you will write down how you would respond to the customer
Role play this with your partner (one is customer, other is the CSR)

14. Calls at Work
Assume a good friend calls you on your direct line at work with the intent to chat. After you’ve done some catch-up on personal news, she suggests that the other reps can handle your calls for a little longer. You are starting to feel uncomfortable with what is happening. Decide how you would handle this situation with your friend and describe the specific reasons for your actions. Would your behavior in this situation be different if your supervisor’s office was nearby?

15. The Phone Order Fiascos
Rick Francis is a CSR who receives a call from a new customer wishing to place an order. Rick has a basketball game broadcasting very softly on the radio, and he thinks the customer cannot hear it. The customer begins to give the order, but Rick interrupts and puts her on hold because he cannot find anything to write with. Because the customer has a heavy accent, Rick has a hard time understanding and says, “Huh?” quite frequently during the phone conversation. Rick concludes the transaction by saying, “Thanks for placing the order.”
Form a small group & discuss what should Rick have done differently during this customer dialogue.

16. Voice Technologies Internet Voicemail Services
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
Voice Response Systems

17. Voice Response Systems
Recording an outgoing greeting:
State your name and title and give reasons you cannot answer the phone at this time.
Request key information from the caller.
Remember to return calls promptly.
Leaving a voic message:
State your name, date/time, company name, and why you are calling.
Say what you would like the receiver to do, giving reasons for the request.
Say, “Thank you.”
Finish with providing your phone number clearly stated.

18. What do you think?
If you were to advise a company you do business with on how to use voic more effectively, what two suggestions would you make?

19. Evaluating Your Voice Delivery
Guidelines
Use a steady, moderate rate of speech.
Never allow your voice to become overly loud or shrill.
Increase the energy in your voice.

20. Ethics/Choices
Sometimes a boss or another employee is on the phone when you wish to speak to him/her, so you must wait. What do you do? Do you stand far enough away so that you don’t hear the conversation or go back to your desk and return later?

21. Telemarketing Activities
Outbound
Used by companies to counter rising postage rates and decrease long-distance phone charges
Inbound
Used by companies to take orders, generate leads, and provide customer service

22. What do you think? What irritates you most about telemarketers?
If you were in their place, how would you react to customers who hang up on you or are ill-tempered from the first hello?
To what extent do you think telemarketers need to be aware of their voice quality, tone, and delivery when speaking with customers?
Does a telemarketer CSR position suit you?
Record your thoughts in your journal.

23. Web-Driven Service Technologies
Chats
Allow agents to approach customers while they are online and offer assistance, usually through a pop-up request
Online Forums
Allow users to share information and post responses to one another in online discussion groups
Blogs
Consist of millions of online journals linked together in a vast network

24. Web-Driven Service Technologies
Cloud Apps
Software applications that are accessed via the Internet and are not physically installed on a personal or business computer system (G-mail, Twitter, Skype, Facebook)
Ongoing service technology used to exchange written electronic messages

25. Discussion
What do you always include in s? (to customers, teachers, employers, etc?)
Subject line
Salutation/Greeting
Body
Closing
Sincerely,
Your Name

26. Email Used extensively to communicate with customers
Avoids having to wait on hold for a CSR
Know who will be receiving your
Think about the tone of your writing

27. Business email system Employees should bear in mind:
s are public documents
The employer owns the
The system is for business communications only
Offensive & inflammatory messages are strictly prohibited
The use of passwords does not indicate that messages are confidential

28. Proper Emails Worksheet

29. Phone/ Tip Sheet