Tips for Creating a Professional Phone Greeting for Your Business

Posted March 30, 2015 in live operator answering service, professional answering service by admin

Think about the last time you answered the phone at work. How did you respond? What was
your tone like? Was the person on the other end happy, or did they seem irritated?

You may not think about it, but the first impression someone has of your business is based on how you and your employees answer the phone. Believe it or not, how you answer the phone helps set the tone for the entire conversation, and it can be the difference between a happy customer and an angry one. First-time callers may be in the process of deciding whether or not to do business with you, while existing customers may be looking to get comfort from a business they trust.

Your business’ phone greeting has a lot of weight when it comes to first (and lasting) impressions, and it’s essential that you start off phone calls with a professional phone greeting. Here are four tips for creating a professional phone greeting for your business.

Start off with the most important information

When you or your employees answer the phone, you should always start off by stating the most important information. This includes a brief greeting, your company’s name, the name of the person answering, and an offer of assistance. In practice, this sounds something like, “Good morning, Main Line TeleCommunications. This is Ken. How may I help you?”

Make your greeting brief

No one likes a long-winded phone greeting that sounds scripted. Plus, it’s hard to sound genuine when you’re rattling off an excessively long greeting. Callers typically don’t like long greetings because it makes them feel as if you don’t value their time. Although it may be tempting to ask someone how they’re doing in your phone greeting, doing so usually distracts callers from the primary reason they called in the first place.

Make sure you sound pleasant when answering the phone

Even though you’re not face-to-face with someone when you’re on a phone call, people are quick to pick up on the attitude of the person who answers their call. When you and your employees answer the phone in a pleasant manner, your callers are more likely to be pleasant too. However, if you’re short with your callers or sound as if they’re wasting your time, your callers will notice and respond in a similar manner.

One of the best ways to ensure that you sound pleasant when talking on the phone is to adjust your body language. If you get in the habit of sitting up straight, pushing your shoulders back, and smiling, it will be easier for you to sound pleasant when you’re on the phone.

Additionally, it’s important that you sound sincere. One of the best ways to do this is to allow your employees to have their own variations of a basic greeting. Long, scripted greetings rarely sound genuine, and your customers will quickly pick up on that. Let your employees know the basic elements of a greeting, and then allow them to adapt it in a way that sounds natural.

Your greeting should be appropriate for your business

Regardless of how you answer the phone, it’s important that your greeting is appropriate for your business and industry. Think about the person who will be calling you. What information are they looking for? How do they expect you to answer the phone? When you’re crafting your greeting, think about how you want your business conveyed to current and prospective customers, and always make sure you include any information that may be relevant to your industry.

It’s important to have a professional and courteous greeting, but don’t forget that how you end the call will leave a lasting impression in the caller’s mind. Before hanging up the phone, always ask, “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” When you do this, you’re showing that you’re attentive and are trying o make sure you haven’t missed anything. Plus, it gives the caller a chance to bring up something they may have missed, eliminates repeat calls, and saves both you and your caller time.

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