How effective are your telephone communications?
When I speak with business owners and senior managers about telephone communications they are sometimes on the defensive because the performance of their phone system is something that has not been reported on or addressed. For example, if I ask ‘How many calls does your organisation miss?’, the stock answer is ‘We don’t miss any calls’. The reality is that all organisations miss calls for a wide variety of reasons, including the diminishing patience of the caller who may ring off before their call is answered.
The key questions to ask are:
- How many calls are we missing?
- When are we missing them?
- Why are we missing them?
- Are we willing to accept this level of missed calls?
To help business owners analyse the performance of their phone systems, Paperclip has created a ‘Telephone Communications Workbook’. The workbook can be downloaded in PDF format from the Paperclip website (see link at the end of this article) or you can request a printed version by contacting the Paperclip office on 01246 418181.
The telephone communications workbook takes you through seven sections, by the end of which you will have sufficient information and insight to take informed decisions about your phone system and the way it is used.
In outline, the seven sections are:
1 – Your phone system: the basics
What phone system do you use and do you download reports to track performance? This section encourages users to speak to their teams to find out how the phone system is perceived across the organisation.
2 – Personal: the subjective
Understanding your attitude towards telephone communications. This is important because you will be reviewing the performance of your phone system through the distorted lens of your own perspective. This section will help you be more objective when reviewing your organisation’s phone system.
3 – Analytical & Financial: the numbers
To make informed decisions, you need to understand the cost and efficiency of your organisation’s phone system. For example, the workbook challenges you to estimate how much it costs your organisation to provide telephone reception services.
4 – Operations: the practical
This section of the workbook looks at whether your phone system contributes to, or detracts from, your organisation’s ability to effectively fulfil its product or service offer.
5 – Quality: the brand
How well does your organisation handle incoming calls? This section also addresses my own personal bête-noire, voicemail.
6 – Strategic: the future
Despite the so-called digital revolution in communications, the phone remains the most important communications channel for most organisations. How well does your organisation take advantage of its phone system for strategic differentiation For example, how important is it for your organisation that calls are answered promptly?
7 – Actions: the outcomes
Based on your findings from the first six sections of this workbook, what actions are you, and your colleagues, going to take to improve your organisation’s telephone communications?
Download the telephone communications workbook
You can download a copy of the Telephone Communications Workbook by clicking on this link.
We would welcome your feedback
I am looking to refine and extend the workbook based on feedback from users. I’m always interested in how beneficial you found the workbook and the changes you implemented in response to the answers it prompted.
If you have any feedback regarding the workbook, or you wish to discuss your findings, then please contact me on 01246 418181.
Hi, I’m Anne Batty, Managing Director of Paperclip. I am passionate about customer service. I believe enduring relationships are built on being open, transparent and trustworthy.
I love questions. So, if you have a question relating to telephone answering – pricing, technical, scope and more – I would love to hear from you at anne@paperclip.co.uk or 01246 418181.
Paperclip’s clients enjoy working with us. I know you will too.