A business owner or employee should never answer the phone with just a “Hello.”

Otherwise this fakes out the caller, making them think they reached a residence.

It’s one thing if a mindless teenage employee – who doesn’t care about anything other than the new pimple on their forehead – answers the business phone with a nonchalant “Hello.”

But I have had this experience with actual owners of the business!

If you’re a business owner and you tend to answer a phone call with “Hello?” instead of also adding the name of your business, are you aware you can lose potential customers/clients this way?

I’m not too eager to do business with someone who’s not proud enough of their services or products to answer with more than a simple hello.

If you run a handyman service, or maybe it’s lawn care, plumbing or appliance repair, why would you only answer a call with “Hello?”

Would it be such a hardship to answer, “Hello, Jim’s Appliance Repair”?

Or even just “Jim’s Appliance Repair” will do.

When I hear ONLY a hello, I do one of several things:

  • I hang up, thinking I got a wrong number and try again.
  • I hang up, sensing I got the right number, but no longer want to do business with that company because answering with just “Hello” is very unprofessional.
  • I don’t hang up but instead instead ask, “Hi, is this Paul’s Handyman Service?”

It’s very rarely a wrong number. So when the person on the other end says “Yes,” I then give a brief little lecture:

“Oh, I just wanted to make sure, because you only answered with a hello and I thought I had the wrong number.”

The response is typically to the effect of, “No, we are Paul’s Handyman,” instead of, “Oh, thank you for pointing that out; I never thought about that.”

If the initial “Hello?” sounds like an uncaring young woman (whom I can easily picture filing her nails as she answers), and she then confirms she IS an employee for the company I’m trying to reach, I say with a sour voice:

“Then you shouldn’t answer with just a hello. You should immediately identify the name of your company!”

I then hang up, disgusted at such stupidity.

If the employee is young and doesn’t have a single care in the world, this is no excuse for not answering with the name of the company.

Employers, have you trained your young staff (and older) how to answer a call?

If you, as a manager or owner, answer a call with only a hello – ask yourself what kind of message this sends the prospective customer.

Reminds me of the teen girl who worked one department over from me at Sears many years ago when I, too, was a teen.

Her department was toys, and mine was garden. I’d hear her department phone ring all the time and she’d answer, “Toys.”

One day when it rang she answered “Hello?” But a split second later she added “Toys!” She caught her mistake. I thought it was amusing.

But in most cases, the employee answering the phone has NOT had a momentary lapse and knows exactly what they’re doing.

If you want business, teach your employees (and yourself) how to properly answer a call.