Telephone Etiquette

Making a call Ask politely for your party: “Is Jack there?” or “Jack?”  “May I please speak to Jack?” Why? Here’s a scenario: “Is your mommy at home?” and the four-year old replies “Yes” … then silence. You go, “Hello?” “Yes?” says the four-year old . Always be specific, never assume! To impress your friends’ parents, you may like to say: “Mr Lee (or in the Asian context, Uncle), this is Alison. May I please speak to Mary?” This will definitely earn you brownie points in their eyes 

Making a call Identifying yourself when you reach your party: The phone rings, you answer “hello”, and the other party starts talking and you don’t have a clue as to who the caller is, but trying very hard to see if you can recognise the voice. The moment the caller takes a breather, you ask, “Er, who’s this?” Do identify yourself. Don’t assume that Caller ID will do the job for you. Not everyone has Caller ID.

Making a call Don’t call at inconvenient times: 10 pm (unless of course you know the person really well and are calling him/her on his/her mobile and you know, for sure, they’re still awake!)  during meal times and definitely not at two in the morning! When in doubt, ask “Is this a good time to talk?” or ask when’s the latest time you can call.

Making a call Ask permission to use the phone: If you happen to be a guest in someone’s home or office (although most of us will usually use our mobile phones but just in case our mobile phones have “low bat”), do ask for permission before making any calls using the “land-line” – say “May I please use your phone?” Keep the calls short Definitely no overseas calls!

Taking a call Say “Hello.”: No need to say “Lim’s Residence, Ah Beng speaking, how can I help you?” when answering a residential “land-line”. Some companies insist on their staff answering office calls within 3 - 4 rings and saying “Good morning, ABC Insurance, Rani speaking, how may I help you?” For some of us, our parents may want us to answer the phone in a particular way. If so, do as they ask 

Taking a call Don’t screen other people’s calls: If the call you answer is for someone else, it’s none of your business who’s calling, no matter how curious you are. Don’t ask about the caller’s identity unless you have been specifically told to do so, in which case, say “May I tell them who’s calling?”

Taking a call Don’t yell or shout: Say “Can you hold on a moment, please?” or “please hold on” if the call isn’t for you. Set the phone down gently and go find the person the caller wants to speak to. Or place your hand over the receiver so you can tell someone that he or she has a phone call, without the caller hearing everything you say. Don’t drop the receiver with a huge thunk or yell at someone to “COME GET THE PHONE!!” It may be more energy-efficient to shout than physically moving closer to the party whose attention you’re trying to reach, but it is also more rude!

Taking a call Never give out personal information: For safety’s sake, it is always prudent NOT to reveal to strangers (over the phone etc) that you are home alone, or to give out your address or credit card numbers. And don’t say that your dad is in the bathroom – people are never “in the bathroom” to callers – say “they’re unable to come to the phone.”

Taking a call Give the caller your full attention: Even though many of us can multi-task, it’s still considered rude to talk to someone on the phone while watching television, carrying on other conversations, or typing away at your keyboard. If you can’t focus on the phone call, let the person know that you’re in the middle of something and will call them back later. Break for Grp Discussion

Mobile Phone Etiquette Learn how your mobile phone works so you can turn it off and on, adjust the ringtone volume and set the ringer to vibrate. Use your regular voice. A lot of people talk MUCH MORE LOUDLY on their mobile phones than they need to. Remember that the people around you don’t need to know all the details of your life. Similarly, try not to listen in on the conversations of others. Just because you can bring your mobile phone into the bathroom doesn’t mean you should. Nobody wants to hear you. Plus you could drop your phone in the toilet 

Mobile Phone Etiquette Turn off your phone in movie theatres, libraries, concerts, plays, lectures, restaurants, classrooms, houses of worship, funerals, private dinners at someone’s home, etc. Try not to keep other people waiting while you talk on the phone. Keep all business conversations short. Don’t interrupt a face-to-face conversation, or a meal, to answer your phone, or to text/receive or send an sms. The person you’re with is more important than the person who’s calling.

Mobile Phone Etiquette Don’t eat while talking on the phone. Don’t use SMS on company time unless it is business-related and is the most effective mode of communication for you and the other party – remember that sometimes, the sms doesn’t reach the recipient so in urgent and/or important and/or time-sensitive cases, you may want to speak to the person directly by calling them.

Mobile Phone Etiquette If you absolutely must sms, for urgent personal reasons, keep your message short. And of course, check your SMS for accuracy before sending. Take a breather before you send out a nasty sms, in response to one you receive! This is because, once sent, it is impossible to retrieve a strongly worded sms, especially when you’ve calmed down and realised that you’ve blown it way out of proportion!

Mobile Phone Etiquette If your phone has a camera, never take someone’s picture or a video recording without his or her permission. If your parents are paying for your mobile phone, it’s rude to run up a costly bill. Know how many minutes you can use each month, and keep track. If you go over, offer to pay the difference, even if it takes several months’ worth of your pocket money. When you say you’ll call back, CALL back!

Using Positive Language Positive language & words that people like a positive climate for effective communication

Using Positive Language upbeat words and words with positive connotations benefit, cooperation, efficiency, excellence, innovation, improvement, integrity, merit, opportunity, prestige, recognition, value-add

The 10 Commandments of Telephone Etiquette THOU SHALT NOT … … make on accept calls during dinner … eat while talking on the phone … carry on conversations with people in the room while talking on the phone … make prank calls … screen other people’s calls unless asked to do so … hog the phone … listen in on the conversation of others … interrupt someone who’s on the phone unless it’s an emergency … neglect to give the messages thou takest … beep, whistle & pretend to be an incoming fax. [Source: Packer, Alex J, How Rude! The Teenager’s Guide to Good Manners, Proper Behaviour, and Not Grossing People Out. ]

Take a look at the following statements and decide which of the two sentences sounds more hopeful and positive 1a. “I can give you the report by Friday.” 1b. “I won’t be able to give you the report till Friday.” 2a. “I can’t do that!” 2b. “This is what I can do.” 3a. “We may not be able to finish the job.” 3b. “We’ll do our best to get the job done.” 4a. “I don’t know anything about that situation.” 4b. “Let me find out and get back to you by tomorrow.”

Take a look at the following statements and decide which of the two sentences sounds more hopeful and positive 5a. “Can you spell your name for me?” 5b. “And you are ...” 6a. “Wrong department.” 6b. “I’m sorry you’ve got the wrong department. Let me put you through, but if the connection is broken, please call them directly at this number …” 7a. “I’m still awaiting a final decision on that.” 7b. “They won’t approve it.” 8a. “Let me check if another store has that model in stock.” 8b. “Out of stock.”

Activity 6 [Role Plays] Scenario 1: Do a role play between a customer service representative (CS Rep) at Best Electronics and a disgruntled customer. CS Rep: “Good afternoon, Best Electronics, _______[name] speaking, may I help you?” Caller: (upset) “I want to complain about a rice cooker I bought from your store at Bishan.” CS Rep: “I’m here to help you, mam. May I have your name and could you tell me more about your problem please?” Caller: “My name is Mrs Lee. I bought this branded rice cooker from your Bishan store and I invited my parents-in-law over for dinner! Imagine my embarrassment when the rice cooker didn’t work! My mother-in-law thought I didn’t know how to cook rice!” CS Rep: “I’m so sorry. May I know what you mean by “it didn’t work”? Caller: (angrily) “I mean, I put the rice and water in, switched on the rice cooker, and when it was time for dinner, the rice was still uncooked!! My mother-in-law thought I’d forgotten to switch it on but my husband checked and the switch was on. So embarrassing!” CS Rep: “Oh dear, I understand Mrs Lee. If you could bring it down to our store at Bishan, with the receipt, I’m sure we can check to see if the rice cooker is defective. If it is, we’ll get you another one!” Caller: “But I don’t know where the receipt is … I do still have the box and carrier bag though … I’ll try to come down this week.” CS Rep: “That should be alright. I’ll put a note in the system that you’ve lost your receipt then. Thank you for calling Best Electronics. Have a good day!”

Scenario 2: Do a role play between a customer service representative (CS Rep) at Singtel Customer Centre and a customer. CS Rep: “Good evening, Singtel Customer Service Centre, _______[name] speaking, may I help you?” Caller: “Good evening, I would like to make some enquiries on my mobile phone account, please.” CS Rep: “Alright, sir. May I have your mobile number please?” Caller: “85123456!” CS Rep: “May I have your full name, please?” Caller: “My name is Arthur Tan Ah Long.” CS Rep: “Yes, Mr Tan. How can I help you, sir?” Caller: “Yes, I want to query about my mobile bill for this month. It’s $515.78! How can? My usual phone bill is about $80 max!” CS Rep: “I see. Mr Tan, please hold for a moment while I call up your detailed mobile phone bill … mmm … mmm. Okay, here it is. Mr Tan, did you download any big files recently?” Caller: “Download, no le! Eh, wait, wait. I downloaded some songs from A-M-P and the MyNokia maps la, but they said it’s free what!” CS Rep: “Ah, Mr Tan. The songs and maps are free, yes. But charges for downloading data still applies!” Caller : “What?? How can?? They said can download for free what! Aiyoh, if I’d know got to pay money, I wouldn’t have downloaded la. How? Can waive or not” CS Rep: “Mr Tan, I’m sorry. But I cannot waive these charges, because your plan is a corporate plan and there’s already a special preferred rate given to you. I’m sorry but you’ll have to pay the charges as stated in your bill!” Caller: “Arghhhhhh. Whatever la!” [slams down the phone]

Telephone Etiquette