Construct

Effective Communication

People communicate in different ways and situations with different people everyday. Effective communication is extremely important for the success of any business. Often, when we communicate with others, the message that we think we are giving out is quite different to the way that someone else receives it. It is not surprising that sometimes communication breaks down, and as a consequence, mistakes are made.

How good are your communication skills? Complete this communication quiz to find out.

Communication
Telephone Etiquette

Effective communication is important for the success of all businesses.

Consider The 7 Cs of Communication as a starting point.

Task 1

With a partner, brainstorm the importance of written and verbal communication in the business world and factors that may impact on the effectiveness of communication. In a Microsoft OneNote page, set out two columns under the headings:

Written communication

Verbal communication

In the columns under each heading record your ideas. In your brainstorming consider the impact of the factors listed below. Add any other factors to the list that you think are important.

Language
Tone
Format and structure
Audience
Message
Outcomes

After you complete the task check to see if you have included these issues.

Task 2

In this list of situations consider the most effective way to deliver each message or announcement.

With a partner choose 2 or more announcements or messages from the list. Roleplay the delivery of the messages and the responses. When planning your roleplay be sure to consider the:

message being communicated
intended audience
positive or negative impact of the message
response that would indicate effective communication.

Speaking to people on the phone is just as important as speaking to them face to face. First impressions on the phone are very important to any business and being courteous and pleasant to customers is essential in good customer relations. Good telephone etiquette is important for effective communication.

Task

Watch this phone etiquette training video to gain a better understanding of what is good practice for answering telephone calls.
Form pairs to record a 2-4 minute telephone conversation in Audacity or another simmilar product, showing how to communicate on the telephone with an angry customer.
Use Microsoft OneNote to collaborate with your team. Write the script of a conversation between a receptionist of a business and a customer who is angry about a faulty product.
Read the sample conversation to get ideas of how you can begin.
Record your conversation using Audacity.
Present your recorded conversation to your classmates who will assess it, based on the features of good telephone etiquette.

Points to Consider

Consider the following features of good telephone etiquette in your task:
1. greeting callers
  1. answer call promptly
  2. use polite greeting
  3. identify the workplace/organisation
  4. identify yourself using ‘This is’ and name
  5. offer assistance
2. courteous language
3. friendly tone
4. clear articulation
5. audible volume
6. accurate relaying of messages.
Create details of employee name, business name, customer name, product purchased and issue at hand.
Remember that if the customer is angry, your job is to keep your cool and to calm down the angry customer. Apologise for the customer’s distress by using reassuring phrases such as: ‘I understand how you feel’ and ‘I see’, and make them feel that you will attend to the issue.
Assume there is no one to answer the call and you wll have to take the responsibility of handling the situation.

A complaint handled on the telephone should be no different to one handled face to face. A complaint indicates the possibility that the customer may go to your competitor in the future, but if you handle the complaint correctly, you can retain the customer and even increase their loyalty, winning new customers for your business.

Communication via the web.