businesscall.ppt

Telephone Etiquette&Business Letter/Netiquettew.Telephone EtiquettewHow to use telephone etiquette to create andenhancebusinessrelationships.Turnacommunicationtoolintoacareerpowertool.wProper Telephone Etiquette is more importantthaneverintodaysbusinessenvironment.Muchofourbusinesscommunicationstakesplaceonthe phone:in the office,at home,in the car,virtually anywhere.In this area,proper phonetechniquecanmakeorbreakdealsorrelationships.Thefollowingaresomeguidelinestohelpyouusethephoneasapowertool.wFirst is the greeting.Whenansweringthephonefor business,be sure to identify yourself(andyour company,if applicable).If answeringsomeoneelsesline,besuretoincludetheirnameinyourgreeting,sothattheotherpartydoesnotthink they have reached a wrong number.Forexample,if answering Jim Smiths line,BobJohnson would answer the phone Jim Smithsline,Bob Johnson speaking and then take amessage or handle the call,depending on howyourofficeworks.wInitiating a Call.Whenyouarethepersonmakingthecall,besuretouseproperphoneetiquettefromthestart.Youwanttobesuretobepolitetothegatekeepersi.e.Secretaries,receptionistsetc.thatanswerthephoneforyourbusinesscontact,astheyaretheoneswhohavethepowerputyouthrough,(ornot)at4:55pmonFriday,whentheirbossisgettingreadytoleavetheoffice.wTheymaysitoutsideoftheoffice,buttheytoohaveinfluenceandpowersoagreetingsuchasGood morning,this is Penny Jones,ImreturningacallfromJohnJones,isheavailable?isabitofetiquettewellspentinthelongrun.Itwouldalsobewisetolearnthenamesofthetopassistants,andusetheirnamestomakethemfeelnoticedandimportant.Somebusinessrelationships,especiallyin fields like sales andmarketing,startorstallrightatthefrontdesk.wWhenyouhavereachedtheparty,ifyourcallhasbeen expected,remind them of the priorconversation and appointment.People get busyandcanseemsurpriseduntilyouremindthemofwheretheyshouldrememberyoufrom.Ifyourcallisnotexpected,unlessitwillbeashortcall,ask the party if they have the time for you.Callingunannouncedismuchlikedroppinginandyoushouldntoverstayunlessinvited.Iftheotherpersondoesnothavetime,brieflystatethepurposeofyourcallandaskforanappointmenttofollowupatalatertime.wHave Have a a phone phone diary.diary.Keep a pencil and pad near the phone and jot notes during phone conversations.wThis will help you actively listen andhave a reference forlater.EmployactivelisteningnoisessuchasyesorIseeorgreat.This lets the other person knowthatyoucareaboutwhattheyhavetosay.Recap at the end of the call,using yournotes and repeat any resolutions orcommitmentsoneithersidetobesureyouarebothonthesamepage.wSpeakingClearly.Duringphoneconversations,pronounceyourwordsproperlyandmodulateyourvoicecarefullysothattheotherpartyisabletograspyourmessageeasily.Speakingcoherentlyandina pleasant professional voice is veryimportantwhenhandlingbusinessphonecalls.wProper Ending.Endthecallonapositivenotebythankingtheotherpersonfortheirtimeandexpressaninterestinspeakingwiththemagain(ifthatistrue).Ifnot,justletthemknowyouappreciatedthemspeakingwithyouandendthecall.wA gracious good bye leaves the door open forfurthercommunicationandinthisdayofmergersandacquisitionsyouneverknowwithwhomyouwill be doing business with in the future,soburninganybridges,ortelephonelines,wouldbeunwise.Remember,in this global marketplace,someofthemostpowerfulbusinessrelationshipshavebeenbetweenpeoplewhohaveneverseeneachother.wUseful Expressions:wThisisCompany.May(Can)Ihelpyou?w(Thisis).sresidence.wwThisis.MayIspeakto?wThisisspeaking.wwCanItellherwhoscalling?wWouldyouliketoleaveamessage?wCouldshecallyouback?wDoesshehaveyourname?wWrong number,Im afraid.wThats all right.wWould you like to call back later?wis not in right now.May I take a message?wPlease tell him has called.wThis is s residence.We are not here at this moment.Please leave your name and telephone number.Well call you back as soon as we can.wWell,I mustnt hold you up any longer.wWell,I just wanted to know how you were.wSo,Ill see you on Saturday,then.wThank you for calling.Im glad you called.wwUh;Well;I think;Im not sure;Let me see;Just a second;Um,how can I say this;Let me try to say this correctly;Well,Let me think for a minute.Business Letter/NetiquetteBusiness Letter/Netiquette w.Business Letter.Business LetterwBusiness letters can come in many different formats.Theymightbeusedinresponsetoaletterofcomplainttorequestanoverduepayment,toagreetoarequestorforawhole host of other reasons.This article is aimed atgivingageneraloverviewofthesortofconsiderationsyouneedtotakewhenwritingabusinessletter.Theyareimportant both as a tool for customers who want tocontactacompanyandalsoforcompaniestorespondtocustomersortoinitiatecontactwithacustomeroranothercompany.wIts a fact that the written word can often be so much more powerful than the spoken word and,from a companys perspective,there is nothing which will irk your customers more than if they receive a badly thought out and poorly presented letter so,as a company,its important that you take care with all of your outgoing business correspondence,especially letters.wAddressing the LetterAddressing the LetterwWhen beginning the letter,were going to assume its being sent on company letter-headed paper so there will be no need to include the companys name and address.You should begin by typing the recipients name and address at the top on the left hand side.Use titles where appropriate e.g Dr,Sir,Reverend etc.followed by their first name or initial then last name.wTheir address should go immediately underneath and,following a space below,then comes the date in UK format,e.g.1 June,2007 not June 1st 2007,although some companies start with the date then the name and address.You should begin with Dear.followed by the persons title(Mr Mrs Miss etc)and last name.wProviding you know thenameof theintendedrecipient,youshouldendyourletterwithYourssincerely.If,foranyreason,youdonthavetherecipients name,you begin with Dear Sir orMadam and end it with Yours faithfully.However,indelicatesituationssuchasrespondingtoaqueryorcomplaint,youshouldnever use Dear Sir or Madam and alwaysrespondtoaname.wObviously,depending on the style and tone of letter alongside your familiarity with the recipient,it is acceptable to end letters with phrases such as Best regards,but you only do that if you have established a good relationship with the recipient over a period of time and this type of ending should never be used in a business letter from a company to a customer.wReferencingwIf youre writing to somebody with regards to an account or a specific matter,before you even get to the Dear Mr Smith part,you should put the account number and/or the matter in bold type and centred on the page so that the recipient is clearly aware of the reason that youre writing to them.wConfidentialitywIf the letter contains sensitive information or if its to go to another company and you do not want it to be intercepted first by a secretary,you must mark the envelope Private and Confidential,if you only want it to be seen by the recipient themselves.Likewise,if you receive a letter that requires a response and has been marked private in this way,your response envelope should be marked Private and Confidential as well.wwStylewAlways adopt a formal approach when writing a business letter.This doesnt mean over-elaborating and using big words.In fact,keep it simple but avoid using slang and over familiar expressions.Make sure that you have clearly thought through what you want to say and the order in which you want to say it to make sure youve covered all your points and that it makes sense and cant be misinterpreted.wAs a general rule,never use humour in a business letter unless its to go to somebody whom youve known for a long time and who you know would appreciate a light-hearted comment or two but,in general,business letters and humour do not mix together well.wTimingwYou should not delay when responding to a business letter.Unless there is an understanding in place whereby,for example,its stated that a person would receive a response within 14 to 28 days,you should always aim to answer a letter within no more than 5 working days.wwSignaturewAlways end your letter with a handwritten signature,followed underneath by your typed name and job title,if appropriate.Dont be tempted to save time by using a photocopy of your signature it smacks of unprofessionalism and gives off the impression of both the sender not being bothered to find the time to sign it and even more worryingly,many recipients,upon seeing a photocopied signature,often feel that theyre just getting sent a bog standard form letter that the sender hasnt probably had anything to do with for months.wFinal ToucheswAlways make sure you do a thorough proof read of your letter before putting it into the envelope to check for spelling and grammatical errors.There is nothing worse than reading a letter from a company containing such errors.NetiquetteNetiquettew.NetiquetteNetiquettewThere are two reasons I decided to write an article about email etiquette.The first one is the sheer number of people using email,especially those using it for business communications.Since you are reading this article which appears on the Web,theres a good chance you use email to communicate with others,including your boss,colleagues,clients,or prospective employers.wwSo,whats the second reason?Well,as the Career Planning Guide here on About,I receive a lot of email.A lot of it is well written.A lot of it isnt.Some messages go on and on and on,until finally the question is asked.Sometimes the length is necessary-other times the writer could be more concise.wSome messages get right to the point.a little too quickly.The writer wastes no time asking for what he or she needs without bothering to be polite.Some of my younger readers(I assume)use what I can only describe as some sort of shorthand,i.e.Can U plz send info on careers?This may be appropriate for communicating with your buddies through instant messaging,but not for writing to someone youve never met.Besides,being a little more specific might help me find the information faster.wSometimes there are glaring errors,such as misspellings and very poor grammar.While this annoys me some,I can only imagine what a prospective employer would think when receiving a poorly written message.Because your correspondence says a lot about you,you should be aware of some basic email etiquette,sometimes known as netiquette.Mind Your MannersWhat three words have a total of only 14 letters yet carry a great deal of meaning?People may not notice these words when theyre there,but if you forget to use them,youll come across looking disrespectful and ungrateful.Give Up?These very powerful words are“Please”and“Thank You”.Please take my advice.Youll thank me later.wThis isnt something that especially bothers me,but there are others who are very sensitive to being addressed by their first names.When in doubt,use Mr.,Mrs.,or Dr.(if appropriate).When you are replying to an email and the sender of the original message has used his or her first name only,then you could safely assume its okay to use that persons first name as well.wDont Use that Tone With MeTone is a difficult thing to explain.Remember when your parents would say Dont use that tone of voice with me,young lady(or young man)?Your feelings come across by the way you say something.It is easy to change your tone when youre speaking.When youre writing its very hard to do.Whenever I write an email,I read my message over several times before I hit send.I want to make sure I come across as respectful,friendly,and approachable.I dont want to sound curt or demanding.Sometimes just rearranging your paragraphs will help.wIf youre writing to someone youve communicated with before,you might want to begin by saying I hope you are well.Email writers often use emoticons to convey a certain tone.For those of you who dont know what these are,emoticons are little faces made up by arranging parentheses,colons,and semi-colons.Use good judgement here.If you write to someone frequently and you have a less formal relationship,then emoticons are okay.If,however,youre writing to a prospective employer,stick to words only.wAvoid writing your message using all upper case letters.It looks like youre shouting.Dont use all lower case letters either.Some people say it will make it seem like youre mumbling.wAnd Your Point Would Be.?wWhen possible,be brief.Get to your point as quickly as you can.However,please dont leave out necessary details.If providing a lot of background information will help the recipient answer your query,by all means,include it.You may even want to apologize for being so wordy at the beginning of the message.wPlz Dont Abbrvt.Plz Dont Abbrvt.wMy teenage nieces send me email using all sorts of abbreviations-U instead of you,2 instead of to or too,plz instead of please,and thanx instead of thanks.Its fine for personal email.Business email should be more formal.Of course,frequently used abbreviations such as Mr.and Mrs.,FYI(for your information),inc.,and etc.are fine.wWhats In a Name?wTakealookatyouremailaddress.Whatdoesitsayaboutyou?A?Maybe.Butdoyouwantaprospectiveemployertothinkso?Thinkofgettingamoreformaladdress.Perhapsyourfirstinitialandlastnamewouldbegood.Ifyourereallyattachedtoyouraddressanddontwanttochangeit,consideraddingasecondoneforprofessionaluseonly.wIf your ISP(Internet Service Provider)only provides a single address,look into getting a free account.If youre currently working,you may have a company email account.Do not use this address for job hunting purposes.Use a personal account only.wSpelling Counts.Grammar ToowUse your spell checker.Thats what its for.Dont rely entirely on the spell checker though.If youre using the wrong spelling for a particular use of a word,i.e.two vs.to vs.too,the spell checker wont pick it up.Dont try to guess the spelling of a word.Look it up.Personally I use Merriam-Webster Online.wGood grammar is important.As you can see,I believe in using a conversational tone when writing.It sounds friendlier.Contractions are okay.Slang is not.Under no circumstances should you use offensive language.DontGettooAttached.wAttachments-thebaneofmyexistence.IdontopenthemunlessIknowthesender.Andeventhen,Ihesitate.Asoneofmycolleaguessaidrecently,Idontopenattachmentsunlesstheyrefrommyownmother.Towhichanothercolleagueresponded:Idontopenattachmentsespeciallyiftheyrefrommymother.Attachmentsoftencarryviruses.Thesendermaynotevenknowtheyresendingyouavirus.Asamatteroffact,theymaynotevenknowtheyresendingyouanemail.Therearemanyvirusesthatcauseyouremailprogramtosendeveryoneinyouraddressbookaninfectedfile.wYou can contact the recipient first to ask if its okay to send an attachment.Then that person will know to expect it.If youre sending a resume,youre best off cutting and pasting it right into the email message itself.While were on this topic,let me remind you that when sending email,avoid using hypertext markup language,or HTML.Not every email program can interpret it,and what the recipien