You're listening to Business English Pop, the business English podcast for professionals on the move.
People are busy.
When you phone people, they often aren't there to take your call.
So you need to leave a message and almost everyone has to answer the phone and take a message sometimes.
Doing so professionally leaves a good impression on your customers, colleagues, and boss.
Today we will hear a bad example and a good example of taking and leaving a message.
First, the bad example.
Justin Thomas is with Drevesco, a major shipyard or maker of ships.
He is calling Sylvie Peterson at Dane Line, a shipping company.
Sylvie is a sales and purchase broker, also known as an S&P broker.
A broker is a middleman or negotiator.
Sylvie specializes in negotiating the purchase of new buildings or newly built ships.
Amy, the receptionist, answers the phone.
Neither Amy nor Justin do a very good job.
Let's listen.
As you listen, try to answer these questions.
1.
Does Amy answer the phone professionally?
And two, is Justin prepared?
Hello?
Hi.
Who's this?
Amy.
Is this Dane Line?
Yes.
What can I do for you?
Hi.
Yes.
Just a second there.
Uh-huh.
There it is.
May I speak to Sylvie Peterson?
Sylvie!
Sorry, she's not here.
Can I leave a message?
Sure, go ahead.
Let's see.
My name is Justin Thomas.
I'm with Travesco.
It's about the construction schedule for 2008.
And my number is, wait a second, 390-929-2107.
Sorry, could you say that again?
I'm looking for a pen.
Which part?
All of it.
Okay, what's your name?
If we just look at their phone manner, neither Amy nor Justin sound like they're going to get a promotion anytime soon.
What's the problem?
First, how does Amy answer the phone?
She just says, hello.
She doesn't say her name or her company's name, nor does she ask how she can help.
In addition, Amy doesn't put Justin on hold.
Instead, she just puts the phone down and calls out, Sylvie!
She is very unprofessional.
What about Justin?
He isn't professional either.
He doesn't sound prepared, does he?
He doesn't remember who he's supposed to be calling, nor does he have his own telephone number handy.
Now, let's listen to a much better example.
This time, Mark Rand, Justin's replacement, is calling Dainline.
Amy has received some telephone training and does a much better job this time.
Here are some more listening questions.
The answers will be posted in a few days at our website, www.businessenglishpod.com.
1.
How does Amy answer the phone?
Two, what is Mark calling about?
And three, how does Amy make sure that she has got Mark's correct phone number?
Hello, Dayline.
This is Amy.
How may I help you?
Hi, Amy.
My name is Mark Rand.
I'm calling for Sylvie Peterson.
Just a moment, please.
All right.
Thanks for holding.
Sorry, Sylvia's not in at the moment.
Would you like to leave a message?
Yes.
Please tell her that Mark Rand with Travesco called.
I'd like to talk to her about the construction schedule for 2008.
Construction schedule for 2008.
Of course, Mr. Rand.
Where can she reach you?
I'm out of the office at the moment, so please have her call me on my cell phone, 390-929-1914.
All right.
That's 390-929-1940.
Is that right?
No, sorry.
Instead of 1940, it should be 1914-14.
1914-14.
Got that.
Can I do anything else for you, Mr. Rand?
No, thank you.
You're welcome.
Bye now.
Bye.
This time they did a much better job, didn't they?
First, Amy answered the phone professionally.
Answering the phone professionally has four parts.
One, greeting.
Two, company name.
Three, answerer's name.
And four, offer to help.
For the greeting, you can say, Hello.
Hi.
Good morning.
Good afternoon.
Good day.
Second, say the name of your company.
You don't need to say, this is.
Just the company name will do.
You may also say the department, such as sales department, or you may just say sales.
Third, say your name.
My name is Sebastian.
This is Ray Turner.
Finally, make an offer to help.
A full telephone greeting, according to the North American Standard, has all four parts.
But, depending on the situation, we sometimes omit or leave some parts out.
For example, if you're sure that it is an internal call, that is, from inside your company, we may just say our name and department.
But these days more and more companies prefer to use the full four-part telephone greeting because it's more professional and we can never tell when a call is external, that is, has been transferred in from the outside.
Would you like to practice that?
After the beep, try answering the phone as you would for your own company.
Be sure to include all four parts of a complete telephone greeting.
Here's an example answer.
Hello, Peter speaking.
This is International Computers.
What can I do for you?
After Amy answers the phone, what happens next?
Mark gives his name and asks for Sylvie.
Hi Amy, my name is Mark Rand.
I'm calling for Sylvie Peterson.
If we know the person we're calling, you can say this is You know me?
So I can say this is Clayton with Business English Pod.
If we don't know the person we're calling, we say, my name is...
To ask for Sylvie, Mark says, I'm calling for Sylvie Peterson.
What are some other ways to ask for the person you're calling?
May I speak to Benedict Struck?
Is Arnold there?
Yes, I'm calling to speak to Ravi Montero.
Now, Amy needs to put him on hold while she checks where Sylvie is.
Just a moment, please.
All right.
Amy could have also said, Could you hold, please?
Would you mind holding, please?
Don't forget to actually listen for the answer when you ask someone if they can hold.
What happens next?
Thanks for holding.
Sorry, Sophie is not in at the moment.
Would you like to leave a message?
As Amy shows us, don't forget to thank the caller for holding.
Now listen to some other ways to say someone is out or unavailable and to ask if the caller would like to leave a message.
Sorry, Fred is out right now.
Can I take a message?
Sorry, it looks like Cindy has stepped away from her desk.
Would you like to leave a message?
Ms.
Wells is in a meeting now.
Can I do anything for you?
George is out of the office this week on a business trip.
Do you want me to leave a message?
Of course, if the person being called is actually there, you can just say, Thanks for waiting.
I'll put you right through.
Or, I'll transfer you right away.
Next, Mark needs to restate his name and company and give his reason for calling.
Yes.
Please tell her that Mark Rand with Travesco called.
I'd like to talk to her about the construction schedule for 2008.
What are some other ways to do this?
Yes, could you tell him that Arnie Waters from Microtech rang?
I'm calling about the new software release.
Yes.
Please tell Michael that Brooks from TriStar called.
I was hoping to schedule a meeting with him for this Thursday or Friday afternoon.
Uh-huh.
Please pass on the message that Pat called.
It's about the new contract.
To ring or phone someone is more British English.
To call or give someone a call is American English.
Next, notice that Amy echoes Mark's words to let him know she's listening and to check that she has understood correctly.
Construction schedule for 2008.
Of course, Mr. Rand.
Later, Amy's skillful checking back and confirming the information helps her avoid a misunderstanding.
Where can she reach you?
I'm out of the office at the moment.
So please have her call me on my cell phone, 390-929-1914.
All right.
That's 390-929-1940.
Is that right?
Amy is sure to acknowledge, check back, and confirm the information that Mark gave her.
To acknowledge, she says, all right.
To check back, she says, that's 390-929-1940.
And to confirm, she says, is that right?
It's very good to check important information such as telephone numbers, because they're easy to get wrong.
If you have to correct some information, say, sorry, instead of 1940, it should be 1914.
All right.
That's 390-929-1940.
Is that right?
No, sorry.
Instead of 1940, it should be 191414.
Now, let's look at some other ways to acknowledge, check back, and confirm.
Acknowledge.
I see.
All right.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
Check back.
So that's 345 Pickford Street.
So you mean you will arrive at 7.15 p.m.?
That's 303-442-2996.
And confirm.
Is that right?
Right.
Is that correct?
Have I got that right?
Now let's practice that.
You'll hear someone give you a telephone number.
After the beep, acknowledge, check back, and confirm the information you hear.
After each exercise, we'll play an example answer.
You might want to have pencil and paper ready.
Let's give it a try.
Yes, my number is 410-978-7875.
Example answer one.
Yes, my number is 410-978-7875.
I see.
So that's 410-978-7875.
Is that right?
Could you have her call me back at 210?
How'd you do?
Try going back and practicing again.
Also, this is good practice to try with your friends.
Now back to the dialogue.
Finally, before we finish the call, the person taking the message should remember to make a final extra offer of help.
Can I do anything else for you, Mr. Rand?
No, thank you.
You're welcome.
Bye now.
Bye.
If you're the receiver, remember to let the caller hang up first.
What are some other ways to make a final offer of help?
Is there anything else I can do for you today, Steve?
Is there anything else I can help you with, Mandy?
That's all for our episode today on leaving a message.
We've looked at the message leaving process from the point of view of both the caller and the receiver.
We've studied how to avoid some common mistakes and learned useful phrases for every part of the call.
In addition, we've practiced a very useful skill, checking back and confirming.
Don't forget to check out our online exercises and activities for this and the other episodes.
Those are available at www.businessenglishpod.com Thanks for listening and see you next time.
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