Phone etiquette training a good call

  • Published
  • By Mike Molina
  • Editor
DENVER --  Master Sgt. Cheryl Gehring isn't on the phone as much as some of the employees at the Air Reserve Personnel Center, here, but she insists good phone skills are a must for everyone. 

"We're a customer service organization. We all need to have an attitude of service," said Sergeant Gehring, chief of the Field Support Service Element at ARPC, which provides a high-priority "go-to" line for commanders and other leaders who contact ARPC on behalf of their unit's Airmen. 

In March, Sergeant Gehring attended the Directorate of Personnel Services' phone etiquette training. 

"Whatever the tone of the conversation, it may be the rude caller, the jokester or the flirtatious caller, the training showed you that you can get the conversation on track without it becoming confrontational," she said. 

The two-hour class is open to all ARPC employees and is centered around a series of interactive videos featuring different scenarios with which customer phone agents frequently deal. From overly "chatty" callers to irate callers, the scenarios allow students to discuss similar experiences and offer tips on how they can effectively respond to difficult callers. 

"For a lot of students, it's an opportunity to ask, 'How do I handle myself? Are there other ways I can handle those situations?'" said Master Sgt. Roger Madore, Knowledge Management Team lead and phone etiquette instructor. "Anybody who picks up a phone and deals with customers can benefit from this training." 

From document preparation and records processing to the muster screening department and the contact center, Shirley Roderick has worked throughout ARPC during her 19 years at the center. She said the phone etiquette class was a welcome refresher. 

"It gives a good overview of all kinds of situations that come up when you're working on the phones," Ms. Roderick said. "It's good to see this training being given. I think it's going to be a big benefit for us and our customers."

The training also serves as a reminder to look at situations from different perspectives, Sergeant Madore said. 

"Put yourself in the customer's shoes," he said. "Sometimes people are having a bad day. As a customer service organization, we can never take it personally." 

For more information on the next phone etiquette class, contact Sergeant Madore at Ext. 6-5751.