国际商务礼仪(英文版)(第二版)Chapter-6-Telephoning-Etiquette

Chapter6

TelephoningEtiquetteLearningobjectivesBytheendofthischapter,youshouldbeabletoknowHowtoorganizeacallinbusinessHowtoansweracallHowtomakeateleconferenceHowtoleaveavoicemailTelephoningbasics

BeforeyoucallOnthephoneDealwithinterruptionCellphoneOnlyleaveyoursetswitchedonattimeswhenreceivingincomingcallswillnotinconvenienceothers.Nevermakeoutgoingcallsinaplaceormannerthatwillcauseannoyanceorembarrassmenttoothers.Alwaysrememberthatyouarelikelytobeoverheard.Usemessagetakingandpagingservicestobackupyoursystemwhenitisswitchedoff.Alwaysturnoffcellphonesatmeetings,intheatres,andwhendining.Ifyoumustcheckcallsastheycomein,turnthephonetovibratemode.Ifyoumustanswerthecall,excuseyourselfandgotoasecludedarea.SwitchboardsUnlessyouareusingthereceiver’smobilenumberorprivateline,yourcallwillbemadeviahisswitchboard.Switchboardsoftenputacalleronholdwhiletheconnectionissought.Itisgoodpracticefortheoperatortosaytothecaller,‘Sorrytokeepyouwaiting’every20secondsorso.Tactfulandconsideratesecretaries(I)Acallerwantstotalktothebosswhens/heisverybusy.Thesecretaryshouldpatientlyexplaintothecallerthatthebossisbusyatthemomentandoffertotakeamessage.Donotmakeapromisethatthebosswillcallback,unlessyouaredefinitelysureaboutthat.Tactfulandconsideratesecretaries(II)Thebossisnotintheofficewhenapersoncalls.Offertotakeamessageforhim/heranddonotsayanythingmorethanthefactthatyourbossisoutifyouarenotsurewhythecalleriscalling.Youmustavoidgivingawayinformationaboutyourboss’sactivitiestoanoutsider.Tactfulandconsideratesecretaries(III)Apersoncallscontinuallywithimportantquestionsbutcannotclarifyhisideas.Ifthecallercannotexpresshimselfwell,youcanaskhimtofaxore-mailthequestionstoyou,inwhichcaseyoucanhaveacopyinhandwhenyoutalkonthephone.Thismakeshimtoorganizehisideasandgivesyouthechancetoaddresseachquestioninorder.Thecorrectprocedurefortheuseroftheconferencefacility

Atthebeginningofthecallusethehandset(notthe‘squawkbox’).Saytothecallersomethinglike,‘I’vegotGeorgeWatsonfromsalesandDesmondEllisfromdistributionwithme.I’dliketobringthemintoourdiscussionontheconferencephoneifthat’sOKwithyou…’.Whenthecallerconfirmsthathehasnoobjectiontothis,eachparticipantshouldsay‘Hello’or‘Goodmorning’toconfirmhispresence.Usehandsettoclosethecall.ThebasicrulesforteleconferencingDon’tinterrupt,keeponthesubject,andavoidnegativecommentofothers.Enunciateclearlyandsmileoften.Everyonemustcallinontime,asprearranged.Attheendoftheconferencetheleadershouldsummarizethediscussion,closetheconference,andthanktheparticipants.

Avoicemailgreeting1-2secondpausesbeforeyourgreetingisplayedtocallers.Yourname.Thenameofyourorganization/department.Thedayoftheweek.Whatkey(s)callerscanpressontheirtelephoneforimmediateassistance.Whencallerscanexpectareturncall.Thenameandextensionofacolleaguewhocanprovideassistance.LeaveamessageThinkthroughwhatyouaregoingtosaybeforeyouplacethecall.

Stateyournamefirst.

Stateyournumberrightafteryourname.Repeatyourphonenumbertwice.Statethepurposeofyourcall.

Findsomecommonground.Bebrief.

Leaveaspecificrequest.Considerleavingyoure-mailinadditiontoyourphonenumber.

CaseStudySometimescallersarerudeandunreasonable.Youmaynotknowwhytheyarerudeorunhappy,butyoucaninfluencetheoutcomeofthecallandperhapsregainthecaller’sgoodwill.OnceacustomerwassurftheInternetanddealingwithhisstockswhenhisInternetwasdisconnected.Hetriedfor15minutesbutstillfailedtoreconnecttheline.HewassoangrythathecalledtheChinaTelecomcustomerhotlineon10000andshoutedaboutthehugelosscausedbytheInternetproblem.Ifyouweretheoperatorof10000,howwouldyouhandlethedifficultcaller?TeamprojectVoicemessagingsystemsweredevelopedtoprovidemoreefficientcustomerserviceandtoimprovetheproductivityofofficestaff.Unfortunately,manyforeignersstillfindtheproblemwiththesesystemsinChinabecausefewofthemprovideEnglishservice.Once,MichaelCalvisi,anAmericanengineerinaShanghai-basedcompany,calledChinaMobileon10086forsomeconsultancy,onlytofindthattherewasnoEnglishselfservice.Later,withthehelpofaChinesecoll