How to answer the phone

– As an administrative professional, one of our key tasks is answering the phone for our executives. We screen the calls that come in so that they can use their time effectively. There’s more to answering the phones than you might think, so let’s discuss some tips and best practices for screening a call, passing a call to another person, and taking messages for callback. To begin, it’s important to keep in mind that you’re going to screen all calls that you receive. This is so that you can filter the sales calls that come in or anything else your executive might not want to deal with directly. When you know it’s an unwanted sales call or a telemarketer, here are a few things you can do. Let them know that your executive travels most of the time and the quickest way for response is for them to send an email. You more than likely have access to your executive’s email and can handle the message from there. If they’re looking for a mailing address to send unwanted free subscriptions, an easy way to stop these calls is to say, “Due to the extensive travel your executive does, “the company is canceling all free subscriptions “so please remove him or her from the list.” If the caller is someone that your executive is waiting on, then you have to make a decision whether to interrupt them depending upon what they’re doing or take a message. In some cases where the person is offering a service such as cleaning, maintenance, computer repair, et cetera, this is a great time to pass the call on to another person. This ensures that your executive doesn’t have to worry about something unrelated to their job. In this case, let the caller know that X would be the best person to speak with and ask if they would like to be transferred to that person. Let them know that X is out of the office so they can be reached at X email address. When you have someone on the line that you’re going to transfer to another person, you want to make sure that the person you’re transferring to has the background of the call before you go ahead and transfer. Here are a couple things you can do. Wait for the person on the other end to answer and let them know who you have on the line. Give them the option if they want to answer the call or let it go to voicemail. If the person you’re transferring the call to isn’t at their desk, let the caller know. Simply say, “They seem to be away from their desk. “Are you fine to leave a voicemail “or would you prefer to call back “and ask for them directly?” These options put the responsibility back on the salesperson to be the one to make the next move. When you’re taking a message from a caller, you want to make sure your executive has the information they need for the callback. This includes name, best number to reach them directly, time and date of call, and a brief description for your executive. Be sure to try and give an estimate about when the call will be returned. If the executive is in a meeting for example, let the caller know that they’re in a meeting and that it could be some time before their call is returned. While these are some handy tips on answering the phone, remember as always you must develop the system that works for you and your executive.