Telephone Techniques

The telephone gives you the opportunity to make a positive first impression of both yourself and your company. Think of the many times you have used the telephone to call a company for information or service. If you have never visited the company in person, your perception of its competency and efficiency were based entirely on how your call was handled.

You can accomplish a lot on the telephone in a shorter period of time, but the rules for communicating by telephone are different than they are for face-to-face communication. We cannot see the other person so we cannot use body language, gestures and facial expressions to add meaning to our message. We can’t shake hands or make eye contact with the other person and build rapport so it is much easier to be misunderstood over the telephone.

On the other hand, we don’t have to worry about how we are dressed or if our appearance is suitable, all our energy is concentrated on what we want to say to the other person. They in turn can’t see our body language or see what we look like and therefore make judgements upon us. In fact, on the telephone we can project whatever image we want!

This 1 day workshop has been developed for people who would like to improve their telephone communication skills. It is particularly aimed at those who use the telephone as an important part of their job.

Objectives:

• To acquire a confident and friendly telephone manner
• To learn what to say and what NOT to say
• To gain effective listening skills
• To deal with awkward situations
• To adopt ways of taking and passing on messages in a professional way

   

  Duration: 1 Day

  You will learn:

  • Improved communication skills
  • The importance of voice and attitude
  • Listening skills and questioning techniques
  • To sound confident and helpful
  • To understand the caller’s needs
  • To handle awkward calls
  • To take messages
  • To hand over and re-route a call

    Course Program: All times are approximate

    9:30 – 10:45

  • Introduction and course objectives
  • What is communication
  • The importance of the telephone
  • Your attitude
  • Your voice 11:00 – 12:30

  • Using positive language
  • Receiving, transferring and making a call
  • Telephone messages

  1:15 – 2:30

  • Questioning techniques
  •  Listening techniques
  • Six keys for better listening

    2:45 – 4:30

  • Being assertive
  • Dealing with difficult callers
  • Course summary & close

  Tel 0131 556 5650

  Tel 0141 223 0090

  Duration: 1 Day

  Available on our open schedule timetables in Edinburgh and Glasgow