DPND PREFINALS MODULE page number 1

DEVELOP AND PRACTICE NEGOTIATION SKILLS (DPNS)

Trainer: Ms. Jhonelyn Rose M. Mogueis, LPT
S.Y. 2020-2021
PREFINAL
1.1 Telephone Basics
You are probably used to making informal calls to family and friends. When making calls to companies, however, some special
rules and conventions apply. On this page we explain how to call someone in a company that you do not know personally
(the most common kind of formal call made by students) and give you some models and language that you can use.
General rules
When making a formal call, three rules should influence your choice of words:
• Be brief. Do not waste the receiver's time.
•Be clear. Explain the background and purpose of your call.
• Be polite. Recognize the receiver's point of view. These rules can sometimes conflict. If you are too brief, you may confuse the
receiver or appear impolite. Try to balance the three rules
Making a call to someone you do not know 
The most difficult calls to make are calls to people that you do not know. Usually, the purpose of your call will be to make a
request for information or a meeting. This kind of call can be divided into sections according to the function each serves:
• Locate the person
• Make request
• Make arrangement
• Close the call
In the following examples, we will imagine that you are calling Mr. Lau to arrange a visit to his office.
Hello, is that Mr. Lau?
More often the number that you have will connect you to an operator or secretary. In this case you will have to ask to speak to Mr. Lau:
 Hello, I'd like to speak to Mr. Lau Kam-cheong, please.
If Mr. Lau is not available, you will need to find out when you can speak to him:
Could you tell me when he will be available?
If the person you are calling has a busy schedule, you may have to call several times. When you are finally connected, it is best to pretend that this is your first
call. Do not mention how difficult it was to make contact! Sometimes, you will not know the name of the person who might be able to help you. In this case,
you can state your request and then say:
Could you put me through to someone who might be able to help me?
Locating someone at a company can be frustrating if you are passed from person to person. Try not to let your frustration show
Make request 
Making a request involves three stages: introducing yourself, giving background, and making the request itself. Introduce yourself by giving your name and
explaining who you are:
 I'm ...., I'm a first-year student at Hong Kong University....

If you have been given the receiver's name by someone else, you should also mention this:
 Mr. Chan from Eurasia Products suggested that I call you....
Give the background to your request by explaining why you are making it:
 I'm doing a project on work experience and I need to arrange a visit to a company in your field....
Make your request politely and clearly. Make sure that the receiver knows exactly what agreeing to your request will involve: how much of her time will it involve
and what will she or her staff will have to do:
 I wonder if I could pay a visit to your office for an hour or so sometime in the next two weeks, to talk to one of your staff about....

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Make arrangement 
If the person you are calling agrees to your request, it is important to make a clear arrangement. If you are arranging a meeting,
for example, arrange the time and place and make sure you know where to go and what to do when you get there. Make a note
of all the information so that you do not need to call back again to find out something you have missed. If the person you are
calling cannot agree to your request, he may modify it. Listen carefully and try to fit in with his schedule. If the person you are
calling cannot agree to your request at all, ask if he knows someone else who can help:
 Do you know anyone else who might be able to help me?
Whether the receiver can help you or not, thank her and close the call politely.

Close the call 

As the caller, it is your job to close the call when you have got the information you need. Unless the receiver shows that he wants
to talk, it is not polite to chat once your business is finished. If there is a difficult silence at the end of the call, it is probably
because you are not doing your job of closing the call. You can do this by confirming the arrangement:
So, I'll come to your office on Monday at 10....
thanking the receiver,
Thank you very much for your help....
and saying goodbye
Goodbye....
In each case, wait for the receiver's response before you go on to the next stage. Wait until you have heard the receiver say
goodbye before your hang-up. Close the call extracts:

1.2 Telephone Etiquette
A phone is ringing somewhere in your office. By the third ring the call should be answered. BUT… before you pick up
that phone:1. Clear your mind of all but the task at hand – responding to the caller.2. Prepare your phone voice3. Answer by the
3rd ring4. Offer your standardized greeting.5. Be prepared before you respond.6. Treat the caller with respect; be efficient,
effective, empathetic and responsive.
Clear you’re Mind of all but the Task at Hand – Responding to the Caller
There’s nothing worse than trying to carry on a conversation with
someonewho is reading their emails, looking at documents or distracted withsomething other than your conversation. You can
always tell; there’s an extended pause
in the conversation while you wait for a response but, they have none because they were looking through a magazine while
chatting on the phone. It’s frustrating, it’s rude, it makes you feel unimportant and they are likely to miss important information for
lack of focus.
Be present with your caller
Being present
Requires FOCUS. Your center of interest should be on the caller and their conversation. Allowing distractions can result in
important information being overlooked or worse, the caller identifies you as a poor provider of customer service and tells others.
Hints:
• Turn away from your computer and desk when you answer the phone
• Put down your reading material.
• Focus your attention on the caller 
• Take the gum out of your mouth
• No drinking or eating during the conversation
Prepare Your Phone Voice
How you handle yourself on the phone reflects not only on you, but also your company. You see it over and over. Someone
talking on the phone forms an opinion of the person with whom they are talking based on the tone of their voice, their language
skills, etc. It may not be fair, but it happens. According to John Robertson of EZINE articles, within 60 seconds
peoplewill make assumptions about your education, background, ability and personality based on your voice alone. What reputat
ion do you want to build? What impression do you want to make? Do you sound like this on the phone? Pay attention to:
• What you want to say.
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• How you want to say it. Your voice is very important to your career and your personal life. When you are talking 87% of the
listener’s opinion of you is based on how you say it according to Robertson. That means that only 13% remains to make
a positive impression about what we are saying. Project a tone that conveysenthusiasm, confidence, friendliness and
attentiveness. Did you know, when you smile while you are talking it comes across in your voice? Let your personality shine
through on the phone.
Hints:
• Take a deep breath before you pick up the phone
• Smile before you speak 
• Assume your speaking voice, controlling speed, tone and volume
• Speak clearly,
Prepare to Offer Your Standard Greeting
YO, Hey, Whazzzzup may be the normal greetings you would expect to
hear the academic setting if you are calling the dorms but they are not generally accepted telephone etiquette for University
offices. Remember the87% rule? Make a good first impression with an effective, efficient greeting. Identify your company, then,
identify yourself. Or you may name your department (Music Department), your name (Glenn Campbell). It should be crisp, clean
and gives all the information the caller can handle at this point in the call. Adding phrases such as “good morning”, “how may I
help you” are ok so long as you sound like you mean it. Elaborate, drawn out greetings
aredistracting and time consuming. You can lose your caller before theconversation begins.
Be Prepared Before You Respond
Hints:
• Listen not only to what the speaker is saying but to their unspoken
• Thoughts as well. What is it this person isn’t saying that is important to the Conversation?
• Be sure to get clarification. “If I understand you correctly…”, “So you’re
• saying that…” “This is what I understand you are telling me…”
1.3 The phone call and Customer Service
Treat the Caller with Respect; Be Efficient, Effective, Empathetic andResponsive5 Forbidden Phrases
1. “I Don’t Know”
2. “I/We Can’t Do That”
3. “You Have To”
4. “Just a Second”
5. “No”Be positive, a problem solver, honest and helpful.

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Be positive, a problem solver, honest and helpful.

Problem Callers
Problem callers don’t usually start out that way. Something happens to make them go ballistic. Customers have an expectation
of how they ought to be treated and if you fail to meet that expectation, they become agitated. When you get a caller on
the phone that is getting agitated:
Listen.
Hints:
• Don’t over-react to trigger words. Callers will often try to push your buttons.
• Listen completely to the complaint, allows the caller to vent. Only when they are finished should you comment.
• If the call is long-distance you might offer to call them back to avoid phone charges. This can have an immediate positive
impact.
Empathize.
Hints:
• To help with this process, keep family pictures in your work area. Pretend you are talking to someone you know and like while
you are working with your caller.
• Force yourself to focus on solving the problem rather thaninternalizing the caller’s attacks.
• Don’t blame anyone for the problem, no matter who is at fault. It’s counterproductive to resolving the issue.
Apologize.
Hint
• Use the person’s name a lot and apologize frequently.
• Solve the problem.
Suggest agreeable solutions. Ask how you can help and if it’s reasonable, do it; if not, find a compromise. Make sure something
is done.
• Take it upon yourself to ensure the customer gets some satisfaction.
Hints
• Handling difficult customers isn’t easy. Remembering the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”,
and putting it into action with difficult customers, will help increase your job satisfaction.
• Paraphrase the problem and repeat it to the caller – get clarification before offering solutions.
• Work with your managers to streamline office/departmental procedures so people who answer the phone are empowered to
solve the customer’s problem.
• Picture how good it feels to solve a problem and send someone away satisfied. It makes your whole day better

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Screening Calls
Hint
• Have a list of callers for whom you should always interrupt
Placing Callers on Hold
The other line is ringing, and you are anxious to answer…requiring you to put your current caller on Hold – it’s a necessary
evil. We all hate being on Hold. So when it’s necessary to place a caller on Hold, check with them first to determine if they
can/want to Hold.
WAIT
Transferring Calls
Hints:
• Treat the caller as you would want to be treated
• Look at those pictures in your work area; help the caller as if they were family
• Make it your goal to call them back within 4 hours if you have to do research to help them with their situation
Taking Messages
Hints
If someone is covering the phones for you, pick up your messages when you return. Don’t wait for them to come to you.
Voice Mail
Hints:
• Sample voice mail: “Asian Academy of Business and Computers; Mary dela Cruz. I will be out of the office until Tuesday. Please leave your
name, number, and a brief message as to the nature of your call. I will respond when I return.”
• Sample voice mail: “Asian Academy of Business and Computers; Mary dela Cruz.. I will be out of the office until Tuesday. Please leave your
name, number, and a brief message as to the nature of your call. I will respond when I return. If you need immediate assistance please contact
Jeeves Butler at x5555.
• Sample voice mail if you change your voice mail daily: “Asian Academy of Business and Computers; Mary dela Cruz. Today is (date). At the
tone, please leave your name, a brief message regarding your call, along with your phone number and the best time to call you back.” If you
are going to be away from the office, say so and leave your date of return so people will know when they might expect a response. If you are
going to be out for an extended period, you should consider offering information on another source for helping the caller. In this case, you
would state your department name, your name and information about who the caller can contact for assistance. If you plan to refer your calls to
another member of your department, be sure to make arrangements with them ahead of time. Leave them a cheat sheet on how to handle
special procedures.

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RECORDING PURPOSES.