How difficult can it be to answer the phone?

Apparently for some people, very difficult.

I called an old established business today, searching for garments for a large beverage company customer. The person answering the phone made me feel like I was bothering both her and the company. That is a great way to make money. In the receptionist’s voice I heard, “What, you want to buy a thousand of our expensive shirts? That sounds like too much work and I also assume you must be a liar anyway.”

Honestly, I would have rather they answered, “Who the hell is this and what the f do you want?” At least it would have been refreshingly honest and even possibly humorous.

As with many tasks in this life, properly answering the phone means treating people with respect.

– Be friendly. Smiling while talking on the phone is one way to convey friendliness. Try it, you’ll be surprised. If you can’t smile or be friendly then get someone else to answer the phone.

– Treat them like they might have a huge order until proven otherwise. For example yours truly looks like an old hippie dude, but I purchase hundreds of thousands shirts every year. Appearances and voices can be deceiving. The awkward person on the line is awkward because they never ordered from you before, not because there is something horribly wrong with them. Hey 100 year old garment company, if you want to last another 100 years you might need a new customer or two.

– If proven otherwise, then nicely directly them elsewhere. Wanting five shirts might make them not your ideal customer but it doesn’t make them evil.

– Take accurate messages and then make sure somebody returns the call. Fairly or not, it seems that how fast you respond is going to be equated with how fast you get their production order done.

– Best is having a live person quickly answer the phone, next best is a way for the person to cut through the electronics and get a live person when necessary, and third choice is to at least have someone call the customer back quickly.

…and by the way, I actually have one of those Bozo phones.