HOW COURTESY HELPS IN BUSINESS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 284, 28 August 1935, Page 6

HOW COURTESY HELPS IN BUSINESS

Advice to Office Juniors

COUNTER AND TELEPHONE MANNERS ' Office courtesies io callers and customers and their importance in contributing to the success of modern business were referred to last night by Mr. F. 11. Bass, F.P.A.N.Z., in an address at the Y.M.U.A. “I regard the reception section of an office as one of its most important units, as much may. depend upon the reception of a caller,” said Mr. Bass. “Nothing is more annoying, to a principal to find that an important client or customer has called to see him, and through lack of proper reception has been allowed to depart without naming a further time of calling, or making an appointment; or worse still, to lind that a caller has not even been asked his name. It appears to be the practice to leave the reception section in the hands of the office junior —often a raw youth who has just joined the staff—and if he is not watched by a senior member of the staff irreparable damage may be done to the prestige of the firm through a lack of knowledge of proper methods on the part of the junior. “Every caller, no matter who he may lie, should be received with courtesy. Unless he is a well-known client or customer, his name should be ascertained and taken down on a. slip of paper. It is a good plan to write down all names on a slip of paper and to hand the gllp to the executive asked for, particularly if the latter is engaged, as it is sometimes not desirable that the person interviewing the executive should know the name of the new caller.

“If the executive is out, or engaged, endeavours should be made tactfully to ascertain the caller’s business and to see whether another member of the executive or staff can attend to him. If there is any doubt in the junior's mind, he should call a senior member of the staff to attend to the caller. It is better that a little time should be wasted than a valuable customer should be upset. Perhaps it is not impressed upon the juniors how important reception work is; in fact it should be impressed upon all members of the staff that the treatment of and reception accorded to callers may have an appreciable effect, favourable or otherwise, on the business of the concern. “The telephone plays another important partjn the efficient running of an office and ranks with the reception desk, or even more so, as a means of enhancing or damaging the prestige of the office.

“When answering the telephone, the name of the firm or company should IXS given without any preliminary ‘Hullo’ —namely, ‘.Tones and Company here.’ The name of the caller should be written down, and the connection with the person wanted matte without delay. If the person wanted is engaged or there is likely to be any delay in reaching him, the caller’s number should Ixs ascertained in case the telephone gets disconnected before the person wanted can connect up. If the person wanted is out or unable to take the call, inquiry should be made as to whether anvone else can attend to the matter, and whether any message can be handed on to the person wanted. Any message should be written down and a memo of the number and message placed upon the desk of the person wanted.

“Needless to say, all calls should be received courteously and such terms as ‘.Right ho,’ ‘O.K.,’ should b.e avoided. A pleasant-voiced and capable telephone operator can do a great deal in the direction of retaining the goodwill of customers, and a careless and discourteous operator can do a lot of damage in the opposite direction.”