(I) Choose a time that is convenient for the other party
First, do not call when others are resting. It is not appropriate to call before 7 am, after 10 pm, during lunch break or during meal time. Secondly, in cross-border e-commerce business exchanges, you often have to call foreign partners. You must understand the time difference between regions and the differences in working hours and living habits in different countries and regions. Try not to call the other party on your day off to discuss business and disturb others’ rest. If the other party tells you their home phone number, try not to call home to talk about work. In addition, business calls should not be made during the other party’s private time. Similarly, non-business calls should not be made during the other party’s peak call time or busy business hours. There are two best call times: one is the time agreed in advance by the other party; the other is the time that is convenient for the other party.
(II) Polite opening words
When calling, you need to say “hello” or “how are you” first, then introduce yourself, and your voice should be clear and crisp. If you are talking to a foreigner, try to greet politely according to the calling habits of the other country. Only when the business phone confirms that the signal is good can you say “Hello” to the other party. You cannot directly address the other party with “Hello” in other occasions. After greeting the other party, you can first ask the other party, “Is it convenient to answer the phone?”, so as to avoid the other party not being able to answer the phone and you are already talking non-stop.
(III) Use tone to convey emotions
Speaking fluently, clearly, and with a calm tone can make people feel pleasant and comfortable. In addition, the speaking speed is moderate, the tone is clear, full of emotion, and enthusiastic, so that the other party can feel that you are smiling at him and talking with a warm and positive attitude. Such an infectious call will definitely impress the other party and make him happy to talk to you. At the same time, for different languages in the call, using tone to convey rich emotions can also make up for the shortcomings of language.
(IV) Be prepared
Before making a call, you should prepare well, including organizing your thoughts, repeatedly confirming the reason and purpose of the call, and what you want to express to the other party. When the content is important or there is a lot of content, you can write down the summary of the content on paper first to prevent forgetting, missing, or not being able to remember it for a while because of interrupted thinking. At the same time, it is best to consider the situation of coldness. For important and uncertain conversations, you need to consider the different reactions that the other party may make before calling, and how you should deal with the different reactions of the other party, so as not to be confused when unexpected reactions occur and not knowing what to do. It is very important to record the time, quantity, and price in business calls. Calling the other party again to tell them something you forgot to say or forget the information provided by the other party will interrupt the other party’s work, cause trouble to the other party, and leave a bad impression. A clean and focused telephone conversation can leave a good impression on the other party, thereby promoting further understanding and cooperation. This is particularly important in cross-border e-commerce. Due to language differences, it is easy to not know how to express yourself during a conversation, and you don’t know how to deal with unexpected situations. This makes it even more necessary to be as well prepared as possible before making a call.
(V) Control the duration of calls
There is a principle in business calls called the “three-minute rule for phone calls”, which is a system that all business people must abide by. Under normal circumstances, the total duration of a phone call should not exceed 3 minutes. Unless there are very important issues that must be explained and emphasized repeatedly word by word, the content will generally be consciously simplified during the call, and the explanation will be as concise as possible. Generally speaking, the length of the call is usually determined by the caller. During the call, you cannot make small talk, deviate from the main topic, or ramble. In order to save call time, you must not only be brief, but also make no mistakes when dialing. When you need to transfer the call to the switchboard, you should proactively inform the extension number and do not wait for the other party to ask. If you are not sure about the extension number, provide the name and department of the recipient.