Many customers have high expectations, so maintaining professionalism throughout a phone call is important. This can sometimes be difficult if you have a frustrated caller, however, ending a phone call professionally will bring the call to a conclusion, enhance the customer experience and result in high customer satisfaction. There are many techniques a customer service agent can use to end a call professionally, in this blog we will discuss just a few of them.
Why is it important to maintain professionalism on the phone?
First impressions are important and most of the time they can affect the image of your brand. A phone call is the first point of contact that a customer will have with your business, so it’s important to maintain professionalism and provide an excellent customer experience throughout. When a customer has a poor experience on the phone, they develop a negative view of your brand, and this is hard to change. So, ensuring that a positive first impression is made and establishing a connection with the person on the other end of the phone is important, as it can be the difference between a happy returning customer and a frustrated customer posting negative reviews online.
What are the benefits of ending a phone call professionally?
There are many benefits that can occur from ending a phone call professionally, including:
- Improved brand reputation – Negative reviews can spread online quickly, so it’s important that a call is handled and ended professionally. Ensuring that the customer is happy at the end of the call will reduce the chance that they are unhappy with the service and therefore leave a negative review.
- Improved customer satisfaction – By maintaining professionalism for the duration of a business call, you are able to deal with a customer’s inquiry effectively and create strong and long-lasting relationships with them.
- Creates a good first impression – Having professional phone etiquette allows a customer service agent to create a professional front for the business they represent. This informs trust for a potential customer and can lead to them using the business in the future.
How to professionally end a phone call
Being able to end a phone professionally is vital in customer service and there are many ways to efficiently do so. Here are some tips and phrases you can use to end a phone call professionally:
1. Summarize the points of a call
Ending the call by repeating the main points will show the customer that you have been actively listening to what they have been saying.
2. Be polite
Thank the caller for their time and ask if there is anything else you can help them with, this will hint to the customer that the call is coming to a close.
3. Set clear expectations for the next steps
Many calls require a follow up call to ensure that that inquiry discussed was dealt with efficiently. By organizing this and advising of any additional steps you will take before the next call, will fill the customer with confidence.
4. Reassure the caller
Confirm to the caller that their inquiry is important to you and the business and you will take all of the steps necessary to ensure that their query is resolved.
What else can you do to end a phone call professionally?
Going above and beyond is important in customer service and maintaining professionalism is just a small part of this. There are many other things that you should consider doing to end a phone call professionally.
- Know when to politely interrupt – Wait for a pause in the conversation or for the caller to reach the end of their point and then show them that you understand their issue and discuss what the next steps are.
- Round up the call quickly – Often you may receive another call as you are rounding up on the phone, it’s important to end the call quickly but also show the caller that you care. By summarizing and arranging a follow up call, this will help the customer to understand that you hear their issue and want to resolve it.
- Ask questions – A caller’s issue might not always be clear. By asking questions or for them to repeat themselves, will enforce trust in your customers and allow strong relationships to be built.
Why choose VoiceNation?
You may find that you don’t have time to answer calls as a busy business owner, whether that’s from your team members or customers. If this is the case, you should consider outsourcing your calls.
Here at VoiceNation, we are the call answering service experts, and our live answering solution makes a lasting impression on all of your business calls.
Contact us today to discuss our pricing packages.