Phone Etiquette

A lot of my job centers on the telephone making calls or answering it when it rings. Over the years, I have noticed a trend in phone etiquette that baffles me. It seems to me that people in customer service are being required to be overly proper when speaking to a customer. Below are several examples that I have experienced during my daily work.

1) When I am calling a certain place and I ask to speak to a certain someone, the person that has answered the phone asks “Can you hold?” or “May I place you on hold?”. Aren’t those questions absolutely silly??? How can I speak to the person I am calling if I am not placed on hold for them to be able to pick up the phone? I think that the statement “Certainly. Hold one moment, please” is sufficient.

2) Another question I get when I ask to speak to someone other than the person that answered the phone is “Who, may I ask, is calling?” or something similar. To me, that comes across as a bit arrogant. Who does he think he is? The President?? It smacks of call-screening, and in my opinion, a person in customer service should never have his calls screened. He just needs to come to the phone as quickly as he can when the call is for him.

3) The overuse of “I’m sorry you are experiencing problems” makes me cringe. The whole statement screams “FAKE!!” Usually, the person with whom I’m speaking isn’t really sorry because he is not responsible for the problem. Naturally, the mistake needs to be corrected to make the customer happy and to keep his business, but in my opinion, the simple act of correcting the problem in a timely, efficient manner and with a pleasant attitude is good enough without all the meaningless apologizing.

4) The frowning upon on the use of certain words and phrases like “OK,” “all right,” “uh-huh,” etc. seems a bit excessive. Why would these words offend anyone? They are a normal part of the English vernacular. When they are used with me, I certainly do not care.

To sum up my opinion on customer service phone etiquette, if a person is courteous, professional, and takes care of the customer, he is doing what should be expected of him. He shouldn’t need to ask silly questions, offer excessive apologies, or use so-called “professional” words. Based on my experience, the customer does not really care about all the “niceties” (especially when he’s upset). All he wants is for his needs to be met.

Have a blessed day!