There are some things in life you never forget. When my high school bookkeeping teacher said, “If you ever write a number between 20 and 100 without hyphenating it, people will think you’re ignorant,” I believed him. And I never forgot.

People who are unaware of the basics of phone etiquette can also be perceived as ignorant. I’m not sure which is worse: not doing the things we should do, or doing the things we shouldn’t do. Let’s take a look at both.

Shoulds (Things that Should be Done to Project a Professional Image to Your Callers):

·          Answer the phone by the third ring.

·          Use your name.

·          Say “How may I help you?” instead of “Can I help you?” The fact that the person called means he or she wants help.

·          Transfer the call only once. Before transferring the call, talk to the person you are transferring the call to via the intercom to make sure he or she is the right person.

·          Ask permission before putting a caller on hold, allowing him or her to have a choice.

·          Exude confidence and competence.

·          Repeat your phone number at least once (and say the numeral slowly) when leaving a voice mail message so the person listening to the message doesn’t have to replay it to get your number.

Should Nots (Things that Should Never Be Said and How the Customer Perceives Them):

·          “He went home early.” Customer perception: “I guess he doesn’t care about my business, then.” Instead of causing the caller to think this way, simply mention that the person he or she wanted to speak with is unavailable and ask how you can help.

·           “Our data entry department always messes things up.” Customer perception: “Oh, incompetence is the norm?”

·           “He’s dealing with an angry customer right now.” Customer perception: “Now he has two.”

·           “She’s busy. You’ll have to call back.” Customer perception: “Silly you. I’m the customer and customers don’t ever have to do anything. That’s why God invented competition.” Instead of eliciting this line of thinking from the customer, ask how you can help, or when   would be a good time would be for the person asked for to return the call.

·           “Mrs. Smith is still at lunch.” Customer perception: “Sounds like a martini lunch.” Instead, simply say that Mrs. Smith is unavailable and then offer to help the caller.

·           “I’m sorry, that’s just our policy.” Customer perception: “Do I care about your policy? I’m the customer.” Customers hate nothing more than hearing about your policies. Tell them instead how the policy will benefit them—but never say the word “policy.” For example, instead of “Sir, you can’t smoke here. It’s our policy,” say “For the health of the customers, we allow smoking outside the building.”

·           “You always ...” Customer perception: “Them’s fightin’ words—every ‘always’ or ‘never’ has an exception.”

·           “He should be there on Tuesday.” Customer perception: “Will he or won’t he?” Don’t use wimpy words like “should” or “try.”

·           “Customer service has experienced a lot of problems lately.” Customer perception: “That’s reassuring. I guess I can expect more mistakes—if I ever do business with you again.”

·           “Why don’t you call her back later?” Customer perception: “Why should I? I’m the customer. If you want my business, you call me back.”

·           “I don’t know where she is.” Customer perception: “Lose your employees often? I imagine you could lose my order then too.” Instead, simply state she’s not available now and ask if you can take a message, or if someone else can help the caller.

Telephones are an everyday necessity, and the image you project on the phone will be the basis of your customers’ judgments of you. Using the above tips will demonstrate your (and by extension, your company’s) thoughtfulness and intelligence—not ignorance.