Updated April 8, 2023
Introduction to Professional Business Calls
In today’s highly competitive business market, entrepreneurs use a variety of marketing and communication strategies and techniques to enhance their business. Business communication strategies include emailing, memos distribution, and telephone calls. Telephonic communication facilitates live interaction and immediate exchange of ideas.
What is Professional Business Calls?
Business telephone calls include both inbound calling and outbound calling. In both cases, it should be done systematically.
Inbound calls
- Pick up the phone within three rings to prove that you are available. After you pick up the phone, use an appropriate greeting like ‘good morning,’ ‘good afternoon, and so on. Then give a short introduction of yourself and ask how I may help you.
- Allow the caller to introduce himself; if he fails, prompt him by asking him his name, company, or other details, and note the details for future communications.
- Ask the caller for any details you require, such as bank details, if the caller is calling for a payment-related issue. If you need to check certain information regarding the caller, put the caller on hold and promise him that he will get back quickly. Once you are done with all the queries and information, thank the caller for his patience.
- Before hanging up, ask the caller whether he has any other questions or requires any other information. Provide the required information and then thank the caller for calling you. End the call by saying things like having a good day.
Outbound calls
- Before making a phone call, collect all the necessary information and list all the things you need to ask and all the information you require. Keep a notepad and pen handy to note important points and information during the conversation.
- After you call, wait for the person, on the other hand, to pick up the phone. When he picks up, greet him with a polite, good morning or good afternoon. Give your introduction by telling your name and the company you represent. And ask for the person you want to speak to.
- When the exact person comes on the line, greet him, give a short introduction of yours, and tell him the reason for calling. Talk slowly and gently, do not go too fast, and give time to the other person to respond to your queries and questions. Do not interrupt in the middle when the person on the side is speaking.
- If you want to gather some information, ask open-ended questions. Share information about your product and services; don’t be forceful and aggressive. Ask him if he has any more doubts or queries that you can answer.
- Please verify the information you have gathered with him by repeating everything in short. If you need to call him again, intimate him when you will call again and tell him what you would like to discuss. Before ending the call, thank him for his time and say something like have a nice day.
- Have a calendar, pencil, diary, and pen ready before making a business call. You can easily note all the call details in the notepad and mark important dates in the calendar for further communication and other actions.
- Keep ready in advance all the required information related to the business call. Like the phone number or name of the person, you need to call. Keep all the information you need to provide to the person you are calling handy, like your phone number, email address, or any other information related to your business.
- Before you call, make a note of all the points you want to talk about. Also, make a note of all your questions and queries.
- Before making the call relax and visualize the things, you need to discuss.
- Before making a professional phone call, turn off everything that distracts you, like TV and music. Make sure there are no children around or no conversation going on around you. Avoid eating, drinking, and chewing gum at the call’s time.
- Questioning– rather than push in your views and information on the customer, encourage questioning and feedback from him to make it a successful two-way conversation. This will also give you an idea of whether the client understands what you want him to understand.
- Objectivity-talk as an advisor, not a salesperson, give him insight and ideas about your product or service, rather than forcing the product on him.
- Listen-Be a good listener and try to interpret what the customer wants to say or his views. Listening to him will also give the impression that you care for his views. And the customer will build a positive image of yours.
- Inform and educate– when you are trying to tell the client about your services and products, educate and inform him about the product’s benefits, how it is superior to the other products in the market, and so on.
- Involve and coordinate- Be attentive to what the customer says and his requirements. If he requires some information you do not know, ask him to hold while you search for the information, and get back to him after a few seconds to let him know that you are working on his queries.
Conclusion
The customer’s details, queries, and requirements and when you have to interact with him. This is important as this is your first call, and to enhance your business goals, you will need to develop a good rapport with the prospective customer.
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This is a guide to Professional Business Calls. Here we discuss the introduction and business communication strategies including inbound and outbound calls. You may also look at the following articles to learn more –
