This week Learn to be polite when you are taking or leaving messages
Taking messages over the phone can seem quite daunting. Those 'While You Were Out' message pads are very useful. They can help to take clear messages for people. Let's look at the following examples.
While You Were Out ...
Most people get annoyed when someone activates our voice mail and then hangs up. They do not leave their name and contact number - the two things we need to ensure successful communication next time. To ask for the caller's name, we say: 'May I know who is calling?' To ask for his/her contact number, we say: 'May I have your phone number?' ( )
The purpose of the phone call is also important, which is the message itself. The following reasons are printed on the message pads because they are the most common: 'Telephoned' ( ); 'Please Call' ( ); 'Will Call Again' ( ) and 'Returned Your Call' ( ). Use them when you are taking messages.
If we are the caller and would like to leave a message, we say: 'Can I leave a message?' ( ). Then we say: 'Could you tell John that I called?'
( ), or 'Could you ask John to call me back?'