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Lalitha Murali

In a scenario where telephone etiquette is an integral part of customer care services, how should one handle client queries? Here's some help.

I'm sorry, but I did not get your name or who may I say is calling," answers Ashok Rajanan of Power Extreeme Training Centre to a query by Lata, a telephone executive at Sundaram Medical Foundation, Chennai. Her question was: "Often, I am not able to get the customer's name correct. How can I ask the customer to repeat his/her name?"

Telephone etiquette training is the latest in `customer care'. Answering telephone calls in a polite manner is no longer the only requirement in an organisation. The telephone executive has to be sensible, sympathetic, wise and has to convey negative news in a positive manner. "Answering calls and replying in a courteous manner is an art," says Rajanan. He has been into motivational training for corporates for 19 years. Though he is a filmmaker by profession, this is his passion. The experience really speaks in his workshops and training programmes. With his deep sonorous voice and well-modulated tone, Rajanan keeps the trainees glued to their seats for 10 hours. Ram, another telephone executive in the enquiry section of a leading hospital, asks, "How do I handle a situation where the customer compares the rates charged to another customer?"

Explains Rajanan, "Suppose a customer asks you the tariff for an A/C room and you answer Rs 1,800. To this, the customer may reply, `You charged Mr X Rs 1,200, why Rs 600 more for me?' Don't say this is not possible. Avoid negative sentences. Answer him like this: "Can you tell me what happened or can you give me the details please?"

The people who handle phone calls give the first impression about the company to the caller. Effective handling of the telephone is acquired through techniques.

Telephone executives are a harassed lot with a lot of stress. What can be done for them? "I give them exercises to be done when they come to the office. They can do these in the sitting position for a few minutes. I also make them repeat positive affirmations," says Rajanan.

Who is this training programme meant for? Telephone operators, receptionists, secretaries and executives handling the front office, billing, accounts, house-keeping, customer service, public relations, and communication sections. These could be in hotels, hospitals, banks, software companies, finance and investment companies, training institutes, real estate offices, call centres, educational institutions and the like.

"Even if there is an incessant flow of prattle by the customer, don't pass on the phone to other telephone executives," says Rajanan, while addressing the staff at the Foundation. "Promptness is a fundamental requirement whatever be the company," he adds. To a query on how they could go about it, Rajanan says, "Empathise... Put yourself in the customer's shoes and feel his pain. Clarify and check the details, settle it yourself or else obtain information and talk to the customer."

Ashok Rajanan can be contacted at ashokrajanan@hotmail.com.

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