10 Crucial Phone Skills for Business Success

Let’s say you make a support call to a social media management service you’ve been using. The rep you’re speaking with is scattered, distracted, and cannot answer any of your questions. You’re left disgruntled and consider ditching the service as a result of that unpleasant interaction.

There’s an art to everything, including phone communication skills. Whether you're making sales calls or providing customer service, having strong phone skills is essential for success. 

In this post, we'll explore a variety of phone skills — from active listening to problem-solving — and provide insights to help you enhance your phone conversations.

Phone Skills for Customer Service

• Time management
• Organization
• Technical skills
• Research
• Product or service expertise
• Professionalism
• Active listening
• Adaptability
• Problem-solving
• Friendliness
• Empathy

Call Management Skills

Time management

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Effective time management allows you to prioritize calls, allocate appropriate time for each conversation, and avoid unnecessary delays. It helps you stay organized, ensuring that important calls are made and deadlines are met. 

Efficiently managing time also enables you to hit your key talking points, while also allowing time for you to listen, give adequate attention, and focus on the caller, leading to more meaningful and impactful conversations.

Pro tip: Use HubSpot’s Free Meeting Scheduler to book meetings that sync with Google Calendar and Office 365 Calendar.

Organization

Organization is a crucial phone skill that significantly impacts communication effectiveness. 

By staying organized, you can access important information quickly, ensuring smooth and efficient conversations. Being organized also allows you to keep track of important details, such as customer preferences or previous interactions. This enables you to provide personalized and exceptional service, while making the caller feel like they’re a high priority 

Maintaining a structured or organized approach to calls can also ensure that all necessary steps are followed during a call, minimizing errors and maximizing efficiency. 

Ultimately , organization enables you to prioritize tasks, schedule follow-ups, seamlessly build and maintain relationships, and stay on top of simultaneous calls or projects.

Technical skills

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Knowing your way around phone systems, call tracking software, CRM tools, VoIP, and other technical resources allows you to navigate conversations seamlessly and deliver a smooth customer experience. 

In any role that requires phone conversations, you’ll likely need to handle call transfers, initiate conference calls, and use features like call scheduling and voicemail. 

Additionally, knowing how to troubleshoot technical issues that may arise during a call ensures minimal disruptions, calmness under pressure, and continued professionalism when the inevitable happens.

Pro tip: One calling technology you can leverage is tracking software, like HubSpot's, which allows you to set call tasks for the day, automatically logs calls, and prioritizes tasks using engagement and contact property data from HubSpot's CRM. Research and Preparation Skills

Research

Whether you’re making sales calls, conducting market research, or simply trying to provide excellent customer service, having strong research skills is vital. 

Research enables you to gather relevant information about your callers. By understanding who they are, their background, and their needs, you can tailor your conversations to resonate with them and provide personalized solutions. This helps build trust, rapport, and ultimately leads to more successful outcomes.

Additionally, research empowers you to stay informed about industry trends, competitor activities, and market insights. This knowledge allows you to speak confidently and intelligently during phone conversations, positioning yourself as a knowledgeable professional. 

Deep knowledge of your industry and common challenges customers could face also helps you anticipate potential pain points, answer questions, and provide accurate information, which in turn boosts your credibility and enhances your ability to influence and persuade. 

Product or service expertise

When it comes to discussing your company, you need to know what you’re talking about so you sound confident and credible over the phone. 

Being caught in a situation where you’re awkwardly pausing, sounding panicked, or frantically trying to search for answers while you’re speaking with a customer or prospect is not ideal for you or your company’s image.

Being well-versed in your business’ products and services will help you carry conversations with confidence.

Phone Communication Skills

Professionalism

Professionalism goes a long way. In any customer-facing role, you want to be respectful. 

Projecting a professional demeanor during phone conversations helps establish credibility and fosters positive relationships. It also conveys competence, reliability, and a commitment to customer satisfaction. This not only enhances the customer experience but also reflects positively on your personal brand and the reputation of your organization.

Active listening

Conversations aren’t one-sided monologues. In order to have a natural and productive discussion, you need to practice active listening.

By actively engaging in conversation and attentively listening to the caller's needs, you can gather valuable information and understand their concerns more deeply. 

Active listening also allows you to respond empathetically, address specific inquiries, and provide tailored solutions, showcasing your dedication to customer satisfaction. 

By truly understanding the caller's perspective and actively responding, you can build trust, strengthen relationships, and ensure a positive experience for both parties.

Adaptability

Treat your business phone call like a conversation. While being organized is key to productivity, you don’t have to be rigid. 

In fact, flexibility is important to a successful conversation. Being able to adjust your approach and adapt to different customer needs is crucial for successful communication.

Flexibility allows you to handle unexpected questions, objections, or changes in conversation direction with ease, without losing focus or composure. It also enables you to tailor your communication style to accommodate different personalities and customer preferences. By demonstrating flexibility, you can provide exceptional customer service, build rapport, and effectively navigate any challenges that may arise during phone interactions.

Problem-solving

Challenges will inevitably arise during phone calls. Customers will have questions — or even complaints, from troubleshooting to needing urgent advice on how to use a specific product. You need to be ready to offer or seek out solutions to your customers.

By actively listening and analyzing the customer's needs, you can identify the root cause of their problem and offer appropriate remedies. 

Effective problem-solving entails a combination of critical thinking, resourcefulness, and creativity in finding resolutions. It also demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction and instills trust and confidence in your abilities. 

Ultimately, developing strong problem-solving skills for phone conversations enables you to deliver exceptional service, enhance customer loyalty, and differentiate yourself from competitors.

Interpersonal skills

Friendliness

No one wants to talk to a robot. Being cold and impersonal won’t lead to a good outcome during a business call. 

Friendliness can help diffuse tension, strengthen relationships, and build a sense of trust and comfort. It also contributes to a more enjoyable and memorable interaction, leaving a lasting positive impression. 

Mastering personability as a phone skill enhances customer satisfaction, fosters loyalty, and sets the stage for successful communication.

Empathy

Empathy is a crucial phone skill that allows you to connect deeply with callers on an emotional level. 

By putting yourself in their shoes and understanding their feelings and concerns, you can provide genuine support and foster a sense of trust and compassion. Empathy in phone conversations helps create a safe and supportive environment, enabling effective problem-solving and finding suitable solutions.

Build Up Your Phone Skills

Learning phone skills is important to any sales or customer service teams’ success.

Get organized, prioritize, and leave more time for meaningful conversations with HubSpot’s Call Tracking Software.