KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE

Effective Communication series

Formations en Communication en Langues allemand anglais arabe chinois français italien japonais

T 0825 096 860 – [email protected]

ECSPLICITE – KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION S E R I E S

KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE WELCOME This book is designed to help you in your work when using the telephone. We advise you to read it regularly and keep it within easy reach. Do not hesitate to contact ECSPLICITE if you have any questions. Phone: 0825 096 860 Email: [email protected]

Key phrases on the Phone, by Laurent Sorgato is a book from the series Effective Communication Copyright SGDL 1997.03.0600 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Proudly printed in France

ECSPLICITE – KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE

1. INCOMING CALLS (1) 1.1. Identifying the caller ● Who’s calling, please? ● Could I have your name, please? ● May I ask who’s calling? ● I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name. 1.2. Connecting calls ● One moment, please. ● Hold the line, please. ● I’ll connect you. ● I’ll put you through. ● I’m putting you through now. ● Let me see if he’s in. ● I’ll see if he’s available. ● I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong number. 1.3. Why are you calling? ● How can I help you? ● What can I do for you? ● What’s it in connection with? ● Could you tell me what it’s about? 1.4. ‘May I take a message?’ ● I’m afraid Jim is out. Can I take a message? ● I’m sorry but Mr. Smith is out for the moment. May I take a message? ● He’ll be back on Monday. I’ll give him the message. 1.5. Taking messages ● Let me just note that down. ● Could I have your name, please? ● Could you spell that, please? ● Your company name, please? ● Could you just repeat that, please? ● And your e-mail address? ● May I have your complete address with post code and your telephone number?

1. INCOMING CALLS (2)

ECSPLICITE – KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE

1.6. Handling difficulties Not available ● The line’s engaged. ● I’m afraid he’s in a meeting at the moment. ● I’m sorry but he’s not available at the moment. ● She’s on holiday. Perhaps I can help you? ● Mr. Caxton is tied up at the moment. Can I help you? Technical ● Could you repeat that more slowly, please? ● I didn’t quite catch that. ● Would you mind repeating that please? ● The line is bad. Could you call back, please? ‘May I call you back?’ ● I’m very busy at the moment. Can I call you back in an hour? ● I’m in a meeting at the moment. Could I ring you back in an hour? ● I’m just leaving the office. Let me give you a call this afternoon. ● I’ve got someone on another line. May I phone you back? ● May I ask you to call back in half an hour? I’m not free to talk at the moment. ‘Send me an e-mail’ ● I don’t understand. Please send me an e-mail. ● I’ll fax you that information. ● Could you send me your questions by e-mail? I’ll reply as soon as possible. ● I’ll e-mail this to you as soon as it’s ready.

2. OUTGOING CALLS (1)

ECSPLICITE – KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE

2.1. Identifying yourself ● Mary speaking. ● Barbara Allen speaking. ● Hello. Mary Lynch. ● Good morning, this is Barbara Allen. ● Good afternoon. Smith here. ● Good evening. Smith speaking. ● This is Mary Lynch from Leyton Ltd. 2.2. Asking for your connection ● Could I speak to Mr. Dupond, please? ● Could I have extension 123, please? ● This is John Snow. I’d like to speak to Roger, please. ● Could you put me through to Mr. Jones, please? ● This is Bob Jones. I’m trying to reach Mike. Is he there? 2.3. The purpose of your call ● I’m calling about a problem of delivery. ● I’m phoning about your new range of products. ● I’m returning a call from Susan Baker. ● I’d like to speak to your Sales Dpt about an order. ● I’m ringing to let you know about a scheduling problem. ● The reason I’m calling is to inform you of our offer. 2.4. Is the person available? ● Is this a good time for you? ● Is this a convenient moment for you? ● Can you spare me a few minutes? ● Can you tell me if Jim is in the office at the moment? 2.5. The structure of your call ● There are three things I’d like to discuss with you. ● The second point I wanted to mention is that the oil is leaking. ● The last point I wanted to go over is the spare parts option. 2.6. Ringing back ● I’ll call back at about 4 o’clock. ● The line is terrible. Let me call you back. ● We were cut off a moment ago. I’m ringing back about the order. 2.7. Leaving messages ● Could you give her a message, please? ● Could you take a message, please? ● Would you tell him that I called, please? ● I’d like to leave a message for Miss Thomas, please.

2. OUTGOING CALLS (2)

ECSPLICITE – KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE

2.8. Making appointments Suggesting a meeting ● Could we meet to talk about this? ● May I suggest we meet to discuss this matter? ● I feel a personal discussion would be best to finalize the details. ● I’d appreciate the opportunity to meet you before the end of the month. Fixing a time and place ● Let me check my diary. ● What about next week? ● How about Friday? ● Can you make it next Thursday? ● How would next Tuesday suit you? ● When would be convenient for you? ● Could you manage next Tuesday morning? Not available ● I’m sorry but I’m busy. ● I’m tied up next week. ● I’m afraid I can’t make next week. ● I’m snowed under at the moment. Confirmation ● Yes. That would be fine. ● I’ll send you confirmation. ● Let’s confirm that nearer the time. ● I’ll send you an agenda for our meeting. ● Fine. That’s fixed. I’ll be there and I look forward to seeing you. ● That’s very kind of you. Okay. I’ll see you on Tuesday the 11th of June at your office. Cancelling an appointment ● I’m sorry but Mr. Smith has to cancel the appointment. ● I’m afraid Mr. Smith can’t make it for the appointment. ● He’ll call you next week to arrange another appointment. ● He’ll get in touch with you as soon as he gets back. ● I regret any inconvenience this may cause. 2.9. Hotel reservations ● Could you give me the price, including breakfast, please? ● I’d like to reserve a single room with bath for two nights. ● I’d like to book a double room with shower from April 1st to April 3rd. ● Mr. Smith will be arriving late on Monday 21st of May. ● You have a reservation for Mr. Long. A single room for three nights. ● I would like to cancel a reservation made for Mr. Maynard. 2.10. Making complaints ● Some details need clarification. ● A number of problems have appeared. ● The goods were substandard. ● We expected delivery last Tuesday. ● We’re very short of time. ● We’ve noticed a number of faulty items in this week’s delivery.

2. OUTGOING CALLS (3)

ECSPLICITE – KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE

2.11. Apologising ● I’m very sorry to hear about his problem. ● I’m terribly sorry about this delay. ● I’m afraid there has been a mistake. ● I regret to say: there has been a mix-up. ● There seems to have been an oversight on our part. ● I’d like to apologise on behalf of our company,… and I must thank you for being so cooperative. 2.12. Reassuring ● You have my word on that! ● I’m glad we can resolve this problem. ● Don’t worry. We’ll correct this error as soon as possible. ● I’ll see that this doesn’t happen again. ● I’ll see to it that this is resolved by the end of the week. ● Customer satisfaction is our main concern. 2.13. Closing signals ● Give my regards to Mr. Thomas. ● Os there anything else? ● So that covers everything, doesn’t it? ● Thank you for calling back with that information. ● It’s been a pleasure talking to you. ● Shall we leave it there? 2.14. Closing ● Thanks for your help. ● Thanks for calling. ● Bye then. Speak to you soon. ● I look forward to hearing from you soon. ● I’ll look forward to seeing you on your next visit.

ECSPLICITE – KEY PHRASES ON THE PHONE

3. SPELLING

A

for ALPHA

N

for NOVEMBER

B

for BRAVO

O

for OSCAR

C

for CHARLIE

P

for PAPA

D

for DELTA

Q

for QUEBEC

E

for ECHO

R

for ROMEO

F

for FOXTROT

S

for SIERRA

G

for GOLF

T

for TANGO

H

for HOTEL

U

for UNIFORM

I

for INDIA

V

for VICTOR

J

for JULIETTE

W

for WHISKY

K

for KILO

X

for X-RAY

L

for LIMA

Y

for YANKEE

M

for MIKE

Z

for ZULU