Often, the only impression a customer or client gains of your organisation is the one generated by your staff on the telephone. Research has shown that poor telephone etiquette can result in poor public relations and millions of dollars in lost revenue. Having invested large sums of money in equipment to improve communications with customers, some organisations simply forget to invest in the human skills. First, consider the following advice... 1. Know what really frustrates your callers. Organisations have suffered in recent years through staff failure to use the telephone appropriately. Recent research reveals that the main frustrations customers or clients experience today in dealing with organisations by telephone are these: taking too long to answer being put 'on hold' and forgotten being transferred and having to repeat the inquiry being answered by voice mail and other 'machines' not having calls returned music on hold, rudeness, perceived indifference, not [...]