Before we start building the structure of an effective telephone conversation, we will first give you a number of basic principles. An example of this is our A’s: four cards that you can use during a (telephone) call and which we are sure will help you have better telephone conversations.
These four As are:
- Active listening
- Ask questions
- Adapt to the other person
- Always be kind, empathetic and clear
Read further to see exactly what we mean by these four A’s
Attentive Listening
The first A stands for Active Listening. By that we mean that you should really try to listen to what the client wants, instead of looking for the answer to your question. What does the client really ask of you?
Did you know that there are five levels of listening? Match the correct pronunciation to the correct level of listening in the drag table below. You do this by dragging the expressions displayed at the bottom to the box of the level of listening you think this expression belongs to.
If there is a cross in the bubble, the answer is incorrect. You can correct this by dragging the ball to the right place. Forgot what it said? Then move your mouse or pointer over the ball. You will then see a pop-up where you can read the expression again.
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Ask Questions
The second A stands for Ask questions. By asking questions you will learn more about the situation of the owner and the animal and so will be able to assist them more easily. There are different types of questions, and some are better in some situations than others.
An open question often starts with “who,” “what,” “where,” “why,” or “how,” and is a great choice when you are trying to gather information.
A closed question is a question to which the answer is often “yes” or “no.” You can use this as a check question, for example to check if you have understood the client correctly. For example, “You last picked up Maggie’s heartworm meds a month ago, is that right?”
Scale questions can help you gain insight into a situation. For example, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate Harry’s level of pain? And can you tell me why?” You are asking the client to quantify a feeling which you can then respond to.
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Adapt to the Other Person
The third A stands for Adapt to the other person. It is important to adapt to your audience during a (telephone) conversation. Explaining an X-ray is very different when you talk to a radiology specialist or a banker. And you also communicate differently with a child than with a professor of veterinary medicine.
AEC
The fourth A stands for AEC. Do you have any idea what these letters stand for when we talk about communication?
In our case, AEC stands for three pillars: Amiable, Empathetic and Clear. These three pillars are mainly about balance. You can be very nice and empathetic, but if the phone call lasts 10 minutes, you haven’t necessarily been clear. How amiable, empathetic, and clear are you on the phone on average?
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Question: Do you now know what the four As of communication are?
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