Telephony Etiquette: The Best Practices for Professional Communication

You wouldn’t get into a vehicle with a missing wheel or buy a house with no doors. So yes, first impressions matter – and creating a positive, professional one for all your callers is key to your business’ success. With that in mind, let’s explore some of the best practices of telephony etiquette through audio branding.

What is telephony etiquette?

In short, it’s the way you represent your brand to customers, fellow industry professionals, and pretty much anybody who phones your business.

Consistency is Key

The broad aim of telephony etiquette is providing your clients, customers and any other callers with consistent, clear communication throughout their caller experience with you. Whether it’s the initial auto-attendant they’re welcomed with, or a personalised voicemail that lets them know you’ll be in touch, professionally recorded messages improve your image as a business – showing you care about all facets of your customer service.

So, where do you begin?

It sounds obvious, but start with your phone system. As we explored in our Evolution of Telephony: From Analogue to Cloud article, businesses around the world are shifting from analogue to cloud systems – opening new avenues for better communication with their callers. Identifying the phone system you have in place and what it’s capable of will give you a clearer picture of your audio branding journey, and how you can get the most out of it for the benefit of both your business and your callers.

What are the next steps?

It’s time to identify all the different aspects of your phone system’s capabilities, and how to get the most out of them, to keep your callers dialled in. Here are some key areas to consider:

On-Hold Marketing: If you find yourself placing customers on hold – whether that’s for 10 seconds or 10 minutes – having informative, thought-provoking, or simply entertaining adverts in place will significantly improve their time spent waiting. Plus, once you connect with your caller, this’ll lead to them asking more questions and taking an interest in some of the things they’ve learned through your messaging.

Voicemail: When you’re unable to take a call, or you’re closed for the day, having consistent voicemail greetings for both your company and your employees makes for a polished, professional look on your business. Not only that, but it’ll make sure less opportunities are missed.

Auto Attendant: Like we mentioned, an auto attendant will usually be the first impression your callers have of your over-the-phone customer service – and having a clean, clear and professional recording in place guarantees that each caller will easily reach the correct person or department.

Audio when connecting: There’s nothing worse than pressing a button on your keypad, hearing a beep, and then… silence. Are you being connected to the team? Have you disconnected the call accidentally? Rather than leaving room for confusion, having a simple message that lets a caller know they’re being connected to a particular person or department will give the reassurance they’re looking for – especially for calls of a sensitive nature.

Sonic Logo: Brands like Netflix and McDonald’s optimise the effectiveness of a great sonic logo – and by incorporating one into the messaging on your phone system, you’ll grow both brand familiarity and trust among your callers.

What else is there to consider?

Outside of your phone system, turn to the people who power your business. Ask yourself – have we given our team the tools and training they need to deliver proper telephone etiquette?

Consider things like:

• Clear speech
• Active listening
• Proper use of the hold and mute functions
• Personalised interactions
• Respecting each person’s privacy and confidentiality

When combined with our professional audio branding, all these elements raise your telephony etiquette to a world-class standard and give your callers a memorable on-hold experience.

To get started, book your free consultation.