September 29, 2025
Business Phone Etiquette Made Simple: 11 Tips To Handle Business Calls Professionally
In the world of customer support, it isn’t just about what you say – it’s about how you say it. Starting new customer relationships off on the right foot means practising professional business phone etiquette with each and every caller.
What is phone etiquette? 🧐
Phone etiquette is the way we act during phone conversations. It covers everything from your own behaviors – like your tone of voice and the way you greet the caller – to more technical matters, such as the length of time the customer spent on hold and how you set expectations around queue times.
Even easy-to-overlook factors like background noise and your choice of hold music can affect the caller experience and how your phone etiquette is perceived.
Why is phone etiquette important for businesses? 👍
As the cliche goes: “You only get one chance to make a first impression.”
For many people, their first impression of dealing with your business will be over the phone. If your business phone etiquette falls short of expectations, you may never hear from them again.
Even if a customer has bought from you before and loves your service, you can’t afford to be complacent where phone etiquette is concerned. Indeed, research from Emplifi reveals that 70% of consumers would split up with a business after two negative customer experiences, while 24% would part ways after just a single poor experience.
In other words – bad manners, a disinterested tone of voice, and an unprofessional greeting could hurt your bottom line.
11 business phone etiquette tips ✅
Fortunately, unlike a lot of issues that can seriously damage your business, poor phone etiquette isn’t difficult to fix – it’s mostly about taking the time to look after callers. Answer them quickly, greet them professionally, maintain a positive tone where appropriate, and take steps to de-escalate if the call becomes a little emotional. With just a small amount of time and effort, anyone can level up their business phone etiquette.
Answer calls quickly
Callers hate being left on hold, with 75% ranking long wait times as a major frustration.
As such, one of the most effective ways to improve your business phone etiquette and handle calls more professionally is simply to pick up the phone faster – ideally within no more than three rings.
And if you absolutely must place a caller on hold, manage their expectations by letting them know how long it’ll take to speak to an agent. If you’re experiencing high call volumes, invite them to request a callback at a quieter time.
Introduce yourself professionally
Once you’ve answered the phone promptly, your next task is to introduce yourself in a professional manner. As a minimum, you should:
👉 Mention your name…
👉 …plus the name of your business
👉 Ask how you can help the caller
For example, if you’re trying to strike a neutral tone, go with something like: “Hello, you’ve reached {your name} at {company name}, how may I help?”
Speak clearly
Body language plays a massive role in human communication – but, unfortunately, you can’t use it to your advantage when answering the phone.
The best you can do is to speak clearly (without shouting). Not only does this inspire confidence, but it also reduces the need for you to repeat yourself, which speeds up the call time.
If you’re a natural mumbler, get into the habit of speaking slowly and over-pronouncing each word; it’ll keep you sounding crystal clear to callers.
Cut out background noise
Plenty of businesses have busy offices. That’s hardly surprising – you might be meeting with customers in person and calling others to confirm appointments. But background noise is a big distraction for callers, and it sounds unprofessional. Keep it to a minimum by relocating to a quieter space when answering calls.
Also, don’t use speakerphone. Not only does it amplify ambient noise, but it also encourages you to multitask while speaking on the phone, which invariably results in a poorer experience for the caller.
Smile when talking to callers
Good phone etiquette isn’t just about answering the phone promptly and saying professional-sounding things; you should also aim to strike a positive tone of voice. The easiest way to achieve this is simply to smile when you’re speaking. Trust us – it’ll have a big impact on how you sound. And when you sound upbeat, the caller is more likely to feel like they’ve had a positive interaction.
Practice active listening
Active listening is a communication technique that involves listening closely to callers, asking open-ended questions to get to the bottom of their query, and paraphrasing what they’ve said to ensure you fully understand their needs. Not only does this make the customer feel heard, but it helps you gather all the information you need to provide a satisfactory outcome.
Take accurate notes
Accurate note-taking is another crucial aspect of first-rate business phone etiquette. Combined with active listening, taking (concise) notes during the call helps you get a detailed view of their customer’s query, which gives you the best chance of meeting the caller’s needs. Plus you’ll want to capture details like their…
👉 Name
👉 Contact details
👉 Address
👉 Reason for calling
…if you need to call them back later with a more detailed response.
De-escalate emotional situations
In an ideal world, every call would be positive. But some callers won’t be in such an upbeat frame of mind – that’s the whole reason they’re calling. Maybe they’ve had a stressful experience; perhaps they’re worried about the expense of your services.
Whatever the case, these callers need to be handled sensitively. If the conversation becomes challenging, don’t be afraid to use the “hold” button to gather your thoughts and plan your next move. Try to be empathetic to the customer’s needs, without overpromising on solutions or timelines.
Get permission before placing callers on hold
There will be lots of times when you need (or want) to place the caller on hold – maybe you need to look up an important piece of information or consider the best way to respond. That’s absolutely fine; just let the customer know before putting them on hold and make sure to get their permission first. Where possible, you should also give them realistic expectations about how long they’ll be waiting for you to come back.
Even if you follow all those steps, the caller likely won’t love being on hold. But at least you’ll have done it in a professional manner that helps you resolve their query efficiently.
Always practice warm transfers
Just as customers generally dislike being placed on hold, they also get annoyed about being transferred to different agents. In fact, 60% of callers say being transferred to multiple agents is the most frustrating part of customer service.
Of course, transferring callers is often unavoidable, so you can’t completely cut them out. Instead, ensure that you prioritize warm transfers wherever possible so the customer understands exactly what’s going on, doesn’t need to repeat themselves, and doesn’t have to spend a bunch of time on hold waiting for the next agent to pick up.
Slash caller wait times with an AI answering service
As we’ve noted multiple times, customers hate being stuck on hold. So one of the best ways to provide a more professional caller experience is to ensure their calls are answered straight away. There are a couple ways to make that happen:
👉 Employ a full-time receptionist
👉 Outsource customer support to a call center
👉 Choose an answering service or virtual receptionist (human or AI-powered)
Sure, we’re biased, but in our view the smartest solution is to implement an AI answering service like Rosie AI.
Your Rosie AI agent can answer calls 24/7/365 – including answering multiple calls at once – in English or Spanish. She can handle FAQs, book appointments, capture customer details, and more. And if she can’t deal with a query on her own, she’ll escalate to you or one of your team members.
So you never have to worry about the phone etiquette faux pas of missing calls.
🤓 Further reading: 10 Benefits of Using an AI Phone Answering System For SMB
Common phone etiquette mistakes to avoid 🙅
There are also plenty of things you shouldn’t do on the phone, from interrupting callers to speaking too quickly to relying too heavily on call scripts. Any of those issues – and more besides – can affect your business phone etiquette and leave customers feeling like they’ve had a less-than-positive experience.
Don’t interrupt callers
We get it: you’re busy and eager to help. But don’t try to second-guess the customer’s query and leap in with a solution before they’ve finished explaining themselves. It won’t make you sound attentive and professional – you’ll just come across as rude and uncaring. After all, you wouldn’t interrupt someone during a regular in-person conversation, right?
Be patient. Let callers finish talking before you reply, and use active listening techniques to ensure you’ve fully understood the reason for their call.
Don’t try to guess the right answer
Callers want to feel like they’re speaking to an expert. But, at the same time, they don’t expect you to know everything off the top of your head. If you can’t instantly answer the customer’s question, tell them you’re going to place them on hold briefly so you can find out. Providing an accurate answer is way more important than bluffing your way through and hoping for the best.
Don’t be over-reliant on scripts
Call scripts can be super helpful, ensuring every caller receives consistent, professional support. But relying too heavily on scripts is a bad idea – because the second a caller asks an unexpected question, your agents are left high and dry.
For best results, use scripts to cover repeatable elements of customer calls – like the initial greeting and the appointment-booking process – but train your team so they have the knowledge and skills to deal with queries without a script.
Not only will this help employees handle a wider range of issues, but it’ll also lead to more natural and authentic-feeling conversations, which can build trust and customer loyalty.
Don’t transfer callers too often
Sometimes, transfers are essential to resolving customer queries. But, as a general rule, you should avoid transferring the same caller more than once during a single call – because multiple transfers inevitably lead to greater confusion and poorer outcomes. All of which results in the customer feeling frustrated with the whole experience.
If you’re a small business, this shouldn’t be an issue – after all, there are only so many people to transfer to. But for larger organizations and contact centers, cut down on repeated transfers by making sure the initial transfer connects the caller to the correct person.
Don’t sign off too abruptly
You’ve resolved the caller’s query efficiently and professionally. Congratulations! But don’t rest on your laurels just yet, because you can still fumble the signoff.
Rather than rushing to get the caller off the line, wait for things to reach a natural conclusion. Then wrap things up professionally by reiterating any action points (if necessary), thanking the caller, and wishing them a good rest of their day.
The bottom line ✍️
Excellent business phone etiquette leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Getting it right is mostly about being attentive and responsive: answer the call quickly, speak clearly, and take the time to fully understand the caller’s needs.
If you lack the resources to offer consistent, high-quality support, the best option is to choose an AI-powered answering service like Rosie AI.
See for yourself by creating your free Rosie AI account – your first 7 days of call handling are on us!
FAQs
What is poor business phone etiquette?
Poor business phone etiquette is any type of behavior during phone conversations that would be considered disruptive, impolite, or otherwise unprofessional. This can include a wide range of issues, from failing to introduce yourself to interrupting the caller to placing them on speakerphone in a busy office.
What is professional phone courtesy?
Professional phone courtesy is about speaking politely, professionally, and efficiently on business phone calls. This encompasses everything from your tone of voice to the language you use and how you listen to, and understand, the caller’s query. Displaying professional phone courtesy leads to more positive customer experiences and higher satisfaction.