How do you greet your callers on the phone? For many, the standard greeting is short, professional, and to-the-point: “You’ve reached Company A, how may I help you?”
While there’s nothing wrong with a greeting like this – it gets the job done, treats the caller with respect, and offers the essential information – it could stand to “warm up” a little.
A warmer phone greeting helps
Warmth is so important in customer service. When we interact with representatives from a given company, warmth is the measure we often use to determine whether or not we will be back. Obviously, the quality of the product or service received is another major factor, but the presence or absence of warmth may be the deciding factor.
A warmer phone greeting could help you land more clients, and it’s one of the best ways to give your customer service a bit of a face-lift. To inject more warmth into your current phone greeting, follow these tips.
Say your name
Without revealing your name to the caller, how can you expect to come across as warm and friendly? When you answer the phone, say your name and the name of the company you’re representing. This helps in a few ways:
- It’s friendlier. You’re allowing the caller to know who you are rather than being a nameless employee.
- It’s more efficient. If the call is disconnected or if a problem occurs, the caller can give the name of the person they last spoke to.
- It’s identifying information for the caller. They can verify that they’ve reached the right person at the right company.
So now, your greeting should sound more like this: “You’ve reached Company A. This is Debra, how may I help you?” See? Warmer already!
Note the time of day
The time of day the call is received can be added to make a warmer phone greeting. If you ever deal with callers that are in other time zones, this is essential. Plus, it just sounds friendlier to greet someone this way! You’ll say either good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on the time of the call received. Your callers will appreciate it.
Example: “Good afternoon, you’ve reached Company A. This is Debra. How may I help you?”
Build a repertoire with callers
If you deal with some of the same callers again and again, build a repertoire with them! Mention a tidbit of information you have about the caller if appropriate.
- Ask about a customer’s spouse or child’s wellbeing – if you’ve met them or the customer regularly speaks about them
- Mention a customer-company “anniversary” – “Did you know you’ve been with Company A for over 5 years now? That’s incredible!”
- Ask about success or issues with their last purchase – “So, how are you liking the Machine 3000?”
- Mention recent or upcoming holidays if appropriate
A warmer phone greeting could be the key to landing more clients and creating better relationships with the clients you already have. Being professional doesn’t mean you can’t also be warm and friendly. Just remember to err on the side of caution and always choose professional over friendly if you aren’t sure how a customer would respond.
