Telephone Tact: Increase Sales With Good Telephone Etiquette.

There goes the phone, again. You've already got one person on hold and customers are lining up at the till. You're glad for all the business, but how well do callers to your tea and coffee store know that? Does the phone ring a dozen times before you answer it? Are you too rushed to be pleasant?

That ringing phone may be inconvenient for you, sometimes, but without it, you wouldn't be in business. Every call is a potential, or existing, long-term customer. The way you and your staff handle yourselves on the phone determines how well you can win new customers, develop a positive and ongoing rapport with them and existing customers, and increase sales.

You spend good money to get people to dial your phone number, thanks to your Yellow Pages listing, newspaper ads, and promotional mailings. "All that money is wasted if you don't make sure the caller's possible first contact with your store is favorable," says Dee Sanford, of Dee Sanford & Associates, a customer service consulting firm in San Diego, California. "So be careful who you let answer the phone. Choose employees who care about your business and can convey that to customers."

It may take some training. "Don't assume staff will be professional and courteous over the phone if you don't teach them how -- even if it takes only 10 minutes," says Nancy Friedman, president of The Telephone "Doctor"(R), a customer service training company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tips for Telephone Tact

"From the minute you answer the phone until you hang up, everything you say and do influences how the caller perceives your business," she continues. Therefore, make sure you:

1. Put on a happy face -- Before you answer, smile. Doing so either reinforces your already-positive mood or manufactures one for you. Remember, you're glad that person called, so let her know that. Make it easy for her to want to do business with you and your tea and coffee store.

2. Be prompt: When you answer the phone by the first or second ring, you communicate enthusiasm, efficiency, and professionalism. Sure, sometimes you're so busy you just can't jump to the phone, but don't let more than a few rings go by before somebody answers it.

3. Speak properly: Your voice is the only part of you from which the caller can form an impression about you and your tea and coffee store. Therefore, don't rush or mumble your words; speak slowly enough, and clearly. Also, put some life in your voice by varying the inflection, to avoid a monotonous tone.

4. Identify yourself: Don't wait for the caller to ask if she dialed the right number. Friedman recommends the three-part greeting: Begin with a buffer of "Hello" or "Good morning," followed by your tea and coffee store's name. Then, say your own name, preceded by "This is...," since people tend to remember the last thing they hear.

5. Offer your help: After your name, say the words, "How can I help you?" Says Joel Linchitz, president of New York City-based Phone for Success, "When you use the word, 'how,' the person focuses more on why they're calling, so you can both get to the point more quickly."

6. Be pleasant: "Never be too busy to be nice," says Friedman. "Being busy does not give you carte blanche to be rude." Neither does being in a bad mood. The caller does not care that you're facing a line-up of waiting customers or that you got stuck with a parking ticket while you were frantically running errands during your lunch hour.

7. Be enthusiastic: When you are, it's often contagious. The caller feels excited about doing business with you and your tea and coffee store and believes that you're interested in her reason for contacting you. Show your eagerness to talk to and help the caller when you use an up-beat tone of voice and words that convey you care.

8. Listen actively: Probe the caller with comments that reflect her words, such as "I understand what you mean," or "You seem to feel pretty strongly about this." Paraphrase her, to assure her that you're listening to and understanding what she is saying. And keep a pen and some paper by the phone so you can take notes.

9. Keep the caller talking: Use open-ended questions to encourage more information from the person. Says Sanford, "The more you know about the caller and what she wants, the more opportunities for cross-selling and upgrading." For the dissatisfied customer with an angry complaint, let her express it; this will calm her down and provide you with valuable information to serve her better.

10. Show interest: The caller has dialed the number of your tea and coffee store, not just any. If she doesn't already know she wants to do business with you, then she's at least considering it. Return her interest in your establishment with some of your own toward her needs.

11. Offer options: Do more than merely answer the caller's question. Suggest other tea and coffee products that might interest her. When you plant purchasing ideas in the caller's mind, she feels you care about what she buys from you, and you sow the seeds for additional sales.

12. Let the caller hang up, first. You want the person to feel as if she has control over the conversation; after all, she controls her wallet. However, if a line-up of customers or other callers on hold put pressure on you to close the call, then offer to call back, saying how long you'll be. Don't forget to thank her for phoning you.

It doesn't end here. "The caller wants to know that the positive interaction she experienced on the phone will be replicated when she comes into your establishment," says Sanford. "You not only want to make a good first impression over the phone, but carry that impression into every interaction you have with the person."

Every time you answer the phone, it's an opportunity to build rapport with a potential or loyal customer. As owner of your tea and coffee store, your goal is to acquire customers, and maintain their interest in your operation by developing relationships with them. Without them -- or the proper telephone etiquette -- where would your business be?

Claire Sykes is a freelance journalist based in British Columbia, Canada.

To Have and To Hold

Sometimes you can't avoid putting a caller on hold. You've got a line-up of customers and other callers, or you need to transfer the person. While no one likes to wait, you can put your caller on hold without holding her hostage when you:

* Tell her why you'd like her to hold: Don't assume she knows you have to go clear to the back office to check that bulk coffee order of hers, or search your floor for the person she wants to talk to

* Ask her permission to put her on hold: Simply put, it's the polite thing to do. Too, maybe she doesn't have the time to wait and would rather that you or she call back.

* Keep her on hold no longer than 30 seconds: Or she might hang up. Time moves more slowly when you're waiting on the phone; one minute feels like five.

* Get her name and number: Suppose you put the person on hold and an emergency forces her to hang up, or she gets tired of waiting. This way, you know how to reach her.

* Tell her how long you'll be: And be honest about it. The caller would rather know what she's truly up against than continuing to believe you'll be back to her at any minute.

* Check in frequently: It's taking longer than you thought. Return to the person at least every 30 seconds to let her know what's happening, and ask if she can continue to hold.

* Question canned music: Supposedly it pacifies customers while they wait. It can also convey the possibility of a lengthy hold, not to mention irk callers who find it annoying.

If you need to transfer the caller to another department or person, keep it simple. Don't make the caller repeat her story to several different people, while each of them attempts to send her to the right staff person.

Know the responsibilities of each department and/or person, so you transfer the caller only once. If you have conference call capability, you can hook her up to the desired party and tell that employee why the person is calling, while all three of you are on the line at once. Otherwise, while the caller is on hold, convey her message to the person you want to transfer her to, so she doesn't have to repeat herself.

Because of the telephone's immediacy, the caller may expect service right away, no matter what, yet it's inevitable that you'll have to put some people on hold. Doing so is as common as a dial tone, but that doesn't mean you take your customer's wait for granted. If you put her on hold correctly, you can make the caller feel as if she is your most important customer. And after all, isn't that what she is?