You are listening to a client and the phone goes. What do you do?
If you carry on talking to the client, you will be distracted by the phone ringing and you will miss some of what the client is saying.
If you ask the client to stop to answer the phone, they may wonder why the phone is more important than them. Having dealt with the call, you have to pick up where you left off, perhaps having to ask the client to start again. This is not a good service.
If you are on face to face reception, you should not be receiving client calls on the telephone.
Where you have to receive internal calls, you should ask for guidance about whether to interrupt face to face clients to answer the phone or let the phone ring until you have finished. Neither is ideal, but clear guidance is essential.
As a receptionist you should not be expected to answer calls from clients seeking advice. You may be asked to answer calls to an administration line handling issues like:
If you do receive a call from a client seeking advice then you should explain how they can access the agency’s services and explain that you are not an adviser.
If your role is to receive calls to your agency, here are a few tips about how to handle calls.
Many agencies use a script of what to say when you pick up the phone, which is usually a combination of:
From this point you follow the same process as you would with a face to face client – listening (i.e. active listening – asking questions, summarising etc.), and explaining your agency’s system.
Obviously you are missing some visual clues about the caller’s state of mind and capability, which can make it difficult to assess their capability, if that is relevant.
There are a few significant differences between the telephone and face to face reception processes.
Checking how long a caller needs to hold on
There should be a system that alerts you to the probable waiting time for the next telephone interviewer to become free.
Checking if the caller would prefer a call back
If your agency offers a call back service, you should know when the call back is likely to happen.
Taking the caller’s details
Some details will be needed if you are taking messages and requests for call-backs. Your agency may have a form for this. You would also need some details to search for a client’s record to find out details of who they have seen, what appointments have been booked and so on.
Do you know how you sound on the telephone? Most of us don’t, but ask yourself (and perhaps your friends and family) these four questions:
You can’t change your voice, but there are a few tips that will help you come across positively to callers.
You need to control the call and not let it go on and on, while at the same time you don’t want to rush the caller (especially if they are a client). When you feel that the call should be drawing to a close, consider saying something like “Just before we finish…” or “I think that is all we can do on this call…”
That’s the end of this bite size training. We hope you found it useful.
