Telephone 2
Business English
“Work smarter, not harder�
Waiting ❖
Asking someone to wait while you check a document or transfer a call needs to be very polite.
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Client’s and customers are the reason that you have a job.
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Voice tones need to reflect empathetic voice tone qualities.
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Could I ask you to hold for just a moment please
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Could I ask you to hold for just a minute please
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Please hold while I check
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Please hold while I transfer your call
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Let me check if he/she is available, please hold
On the next page you will role play a task where you will practice putting someone on hold using these forms.
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Good morning TC Distributions, David speaking how can I help you?
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Good morning, could I speak to Mr Williams please
How will you respond?
Informal version
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In order to demonstrate formality it’s important to show you how to be informal on a telephone when you want someone to wait.
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We do not apply formality to people who are familiar to us such as friends, family and colleagues.
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Hi ………. is Sarah available?
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Hi……….. Hold on
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Hi……….. Hang on
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Practice this form with your teacher.
Hi ……… it’s John from accounts, is Jen there? Hi ……… Hang on, let me check. Hi ……… Hold on, let me check.
Asking someone to speak ❖
This must be extremely polite so that you don’t appear arrogant towards the client.
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To ask a client to speak we use “Go ahead”
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This is the formal way and we normally add the word please to add effect.
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You can add “please” at the front or at the back of the construction.
Role Play Task 1 ❖
Answer the phone for your department
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A client will ask to speak to Mr Davis
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Check if he is available, ask the client to wait while you check
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Tell the client that Mr Davis is in a meeting
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The client will ask if he can leave a message
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How will you ask the client to start speaking so that he can leave a message?
Answering the phone Company Format: ❖
Greeting
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The name of your company
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Your name
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Offer
Answering the phone ❖
Department Format
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Greeting
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Department
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Your name
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Offer
Role play task 2 Answer the phone:
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Company
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Department
Connected ❖
I am just transferring you now
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I am just going to transfer you to their extension
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Just transferring you now
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Let me transfer you to their extension
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Let me put you through to their extension
You are the intermediate between the client and your colleague, be polite, your objective is to provide your client with a service that will give return custom. Transferring a call is not an inconvenience, it’s part of your responsibilities as an employee. Being polite on a phone provides both you and your company with more opportunity to be referred.
Busy ❖
Their extension is busy
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They are engaged at the moment
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They are on another call at the moment
You have the voice of the company, the client has been inconvenienced so we use: ❖
I’m sorry but ….
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I’m afraid that …..
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Your clients have value to the business therefore you must apologise at the beginning of the construction.
Excuses ❖
I’m sorry he/she is not at their desk at the moment
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I’m afraid they are in a meeting at the moment
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He/she is on holiday till the ……. (Date)
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I’m afraid they are on a client visit at the moment
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I’m sorry but their line is engaged at the moment
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I’m sorry but they are on another call
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I’m sorry but he/ she is out of the office at the moment.
Excuses are important to a business as sometimes they are used to conserve time in a more effective way having a direct input on productivity and output. There are often times when they are used in genuine circumstances but either way they way in which you sound to others must reflect empathetic voice tone qualities that demonstrate a want and need to do business.
Role Play Task 3 ❖
Answer the phone
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A client will ask to speak to Mrs Claire Stevens
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Tell the client that you will transfer the call to their extension
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Claire’s line is busy, inform the client
Gathering information Having good attention for detail means that you will have to source information. When you take a message on the phone you must gather as much information as possible in a short period of time. â?–
In business we always ask for the name of the client and the reason why they phoned. Taking accurate contact details are essential.
We always give a client 2 options where possible: â?–
Would you like to leave a message or can I help at all?
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Can I have your full name please?
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Could I have the name of the company that you are calling from?
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May I ask what it’s regarding?
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May I ask what it’s in connection with?
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Could I have a contact telephone number?
You should never assume that a client want’s to be contacted on a mobile phone so this is why we use “contact number”.
Tasks
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You have been put through to the wrong extension and have been transferred back to reception
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You were speaking to someone and got disconnected
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The person spoke too fast and you want them to repeat what they said
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You want to leave a message
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You want the receptionist to give you the Mr Jacobs mobile telephone number
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You don’t know which department to speak to regarding an overpayment
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You have a bad signal on your mobile, tell the client
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You don’t know Mr Patterson’s extension interact with the receptionist
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Leave a message for Mr James to phone you back, use your real name and job title it’s regarding a meeting that you have to cancel
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Your mobile battery is running out
Arranging a
Meeting We use certain sentence constructions to arrange meetings. These can be used face to face or on the phone as they follow the same rules.
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Are you available on the………..
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Are you free on the …………..
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Could we arrange to meet on the……….
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Have you got time to meet …………..
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Is the …………… a good day to meet?
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If you are free on the ……… we could arrange to meet
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Is there a chance that we could meet on the …………
Role Play Task 4 ❖
Answer the phone for your department
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The client wants to speak to Mr Davis
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Try and put the call through
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His line is busy
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Inform the client and ask them if they would like to leave a message or offer assistance.
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The client wants to leave a message for Mr Davis
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Take the message for Mr Davis
You will be provided with real information. Use a pen and paper or note feature on your device to actually take the message. At the end of this task Mr Davis will ask you if there were any messages while he was out of the office, give him the message.
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