Office Phone Greetings From Hell

Good Afternoon, thank you for calling Westbury Target, Andrew G.R speaking, how may I direct your call today?

I DON’T work at Target.  But that didn’t stop my  boss from recently calling me out for the way I pick up my phone.  We don’t have Caller ID but there’s a different ring depending whether the call is internal or external.

This was my standard greeting:

Internal: Department Name
External: Company name, Department Name

Apparently, not good enough for the Boss Man.  He thinks every phone greeting should be uniform, regardless of where the call is coming from.

I don’t know how things roll at your office (though I’d love to hear in the comments below) but this pissed me off.

1) I don’t work at a call center or in customer service

2) My company is not that large.  If someone calls my department, they KNOW who they’re calling.

3) Long greetings are irritating.  They are bad for first time callers and a hundred times worse for people who call you multiple times a day.

4) I’m an educated 31-year-old man.  Do NOT tell me how to answer a phone.

Why am I telling you this?  Because I can’t tell the Boss Man!  Is this dude kidding?  What’s next, a session with The Phone Coach?

It’s this type of nit-picking that originally led to the Working Podcast and eventually this blog.  I work hard.  I’m always on time and complete every project. So since you have nothing else to complain about, you pick on the way I answer my phone?  Buzz off!  I don’t need to say my name every time the phone rings… and I won’t!

How does your company have you answer the phone?  It’s amazing how many returns a Google search for "phone office etiquette" turns up.  It’s hardly a science, is it?  How about saying "Hello" – that’s probably a good start.