PHONE DO’S & DON’TS
•When answering the phone let it ring two or three times before answering.
•The phone should be answered with a positive greeting such as “Hello,” “Good Morning,” or “Good Afternoon,” etc. Following the greeting the person who answers the phone should give his or her name and the name of the business or organization that is being contacted.
•Reintroduce yourself and explain your reason for calling if you get transferred to another person. Never assume they know who you are.
•Put on a smile before placing or answering a phone call. When a person smiles it affects the sound of his or her voice, giving it a more pleasant and friendly tone.
•For clarity, the telephone should be held a distance of two fingers from the mouth.
•Speak in a clear tone using a voice that is neither too loud nor too low. Words should be said slow enough that people are able to understand what is being said to them.
•When a caller is speaking, listen to what he or she has to say without interruptions.
•Always return phone calls if a return call has been promised. If a time frame was given the caller must make every attempt to return the phone call as quickly as possible within that frame.
•Use swearwords or slang.
•Argue with a caller.
•When ending a phone call, do not hang up the phone without a positive closure such as “Thank you for calling,” or “Have a Good Day.”
•If it is necessary to transfer a call, inform the person on the other end before doing so. It is also important to explain the need for the transfer.
•Answer the phone when eating, chewing, or drinking. If a person has anything in his or her mouth it should be swallowed or removed before picking up the phone to either answer it or place a call.
•If you must leave the phone, never leave the line open. Instead place the person on hold.
•Never say the words, “I don’t know” when talking with someone on the phone. The ideal response to a question where there is not a definite answer is to say “I’ll find out for you’
•Be rude.
Email/letter writing
When sending an email you should always do the following:
1. Introduce yourself
Never assume some one will remember who you are if you have only spoken to them once. Always introduce yourself.
2. Write in short paragraphs and get to your point
Get straight to the point – don’t waste time waffling. Split your email into two to four short paragraphs, each one dealing with a single idea. Consider using bullet-points for extra clarity, perhaps if you are:
•Listing several questions for the recipient to answer
•Suggesting a number of alternative options
•Explaining the steps that you’ll be carrying out
Put a double line break, rather than an indent (tab), between paragraphs.
3. Use capitals appropriately
Emails should follow the same rules of punctuation as other writing. Capitals are often misused. In particular, you should:
•Never write a whole sentence (or worse, a whole email) in capitals
•Always capitalise “I” and the first letter of proper nouns (names)
•Capitaliseacronymns(USA, BBC, RSPCA)
•Always start sentences with a capital letter.
4. Sign off the email
For short internal company emails, you can get away with just putting a double space after your last paragraph then typing your name. If you’re writing a more formal email, though, it’s essential to close it appropriately.
•Use Yours sincerely, (when you know the name of your addressee) and Yours faithfully, (when you’ve addressed it to “Dear Sir/Madam”) for very formal emails such as job applications.
•Use Best regards, or Kind regards, in most other situations.
•Even when writing to people you know well, it’s polite to sign off with something such as “All the best,” “Take care,” or “Have a nice day,” before typing your name.
6. Use a sensible email signature
Hopefully this is common sense – but don’t cram your email signature with quotes from your favourite TV show, motivational speaker or witty friend. Do include your name, email address, telephone number and postal address (where appropriate) – obviously, your company may have some guidelines on these.
It makes it easy for your correspondents to find your contact details: they don’t need to root through for the first message you sent them, but can just look in the footer of any of your emails.
Body Language