Telephone Skills for Insurance & Financial Services Professionals

The power of talk is important. The power of active listening is equally important. This is impossible to achieve through email and therefore it is crucial to ensure that when using the telephone, appropriate skills are applied, whether you are making the call, or someone else is calling you. There are various dynamics taking place during a phone call that need to be understood and handled appropriately.

During this session, as well as building confidence for you to use the phone more, the following skills will be developed:

➢ Understanding the appropriate channel of communication based on the message to be delivered.

➢ Active and discriminative skills listening, and listening to what people don´t say!

➢ Understanding customer expectations before, during and after a telephone call.

➢ Handling difficult conversations over the telephone.

➢ Recognising potential emotional transfer between calls and how to avoid it.

➢ Using appropriate questioning techniques on the telephone and responding appropriately.

➢ Behavioural biases typically encountered during telephone calls.

➢ Telephone etiquette in the insurance and financial services industry.

Learning outcomes By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

➢ identify key skills necessary to communicate clearly and effectively using the telephone.

➢ understand the various dynamics that take place during inbound and outbound calls and adjust style accordingly.

➢ implement a strategy to be more confident and effective when dealing with inbound calls or making outbound calls.