Telephone Etiquette
I have been following up some matters with someone from a certain real estate company for the past 3 months.
I understand that it does not solely depend on him to get the job done as soon as i requested it .. but again, it has been 3 months!
Im not gonna whine about that matter though (it is just one example of the many i encountered)..
What's annoying me is when i call him the first time, he will pick up the phone and give me some hazy answer then ask me to call back later. When i call him back, its either he will let it ring or cancel the call. And btw, he never calls back no matter how many missed calls he has.
Its such an unprofessional behavior! If they do not have any answer to inquiries, they could at least answer and tell the truth, call back or something.
This did not happen to just 1 person or company.. now, i'm just wondering.. do they even know the first thing about phone etiquette? anyone experienced this before?
Expatgeezer - nope. he's not .. :)
The worst is when you ask to speak to the boss and they refuse to give you his cell number, which is given to him by his company!! Lol
Plushed let me guess he is Egyptian?
i couldnt agree more polkadots.....
This being a Jungle is oh so true, that there are some organizations in Qatar, where surviving on the job is worthy of being telecast in the "Survivor" series,as it takes all kinds of skills but professional knowledge to get by. The OP obviously came across one such survivor,and so this is to be expected, not just in the Real Estate business but pretty much every where.The "Survival of the fittest"rules would have eliminated all the nicer ones.
wk.. now i have to edit.. lol. real estate. :)
Sounds to me like you need a new realtor.
As for telephone etiquette, I agree with nomerci--what the original OP describes is not telephone etiquette, and, for what it is worth, it is severely lacking here. These sorts of professional social skills are, in general, lacking here (among other places). Etiquette at meals in a professional context, including eating, ordering and conversation, are all generally lacking. It leaves a poor impression not only of the person, but also that person's company.
Plushed those rules are hard to follow for someone working in sales, that's where I assume this guy was working.. right?
20 Telephone Etiquette for Businesses Tips
4. Do not forget to return the call as you promised.
5. Do not permit the phone to ring into the office more than three times.
14. Return calls promptly that have been left on voice mail and ansafones.
(..or messages left with your assistant)
source:
http://ezinearticles.com/?20--Business-Telephone-Etiquette-Tips&id=246471
This has nothing to do with "telephone etiquette". Telephone etiquette means how you behave when ON the phone, something that is pretty much non existent here. But what this person is doing simply displays bad general manners. Very common too.
i hate calling others too much , it is out of any noble manners.
but also i hate answering my boss, and i like it when he calls and i am not responding knowing he is getting frustrated.
then i call him back telling him i was in the bathroom.
thanks a lot ramil! will put that in mind.. ;)
well then, a year and a half is enough teach you a lot, probably you're just exhausted. go for a vacation. and be in the civilized world for a while. recharge a little.
a friend told me once, " dont use too much of your knowledge, you only need a small piece to get around".
that way you wont exhaust your resources.
chevy - i'm all too familiar with that reasoning.. but really, its just so frustrating at times.. and btw, 8 years is a feat! i salute you! :)
ramil26 - i've been here 1 1/2 years (i consider this an achievement. lol), still cant get used to it. and personally, im afraid to get caught up in it if i get too affected.
lavvyblue - lol. sorry, my bad. :P
I get used to it and I MUST get used to it...
My colleague told me, "If you can't swallow what qatar can offer you, you are free to leave...no one is forcing you to stay and make your life miserable"...
Just get even... as what ramil says... :)
change that company then, look for a better one ( originally typed professional, but decided to delete it)
in time, you'll learn to deal with them (unproperly). here professionalism is just a word they say and brag about, but never do.
as we say to newbies, welcome to the JUNGLE !!! literally it is....
i am not surprised with these people. Id be surprised if you stay long in these environment.
The last time i checked, I'm in Qatar and i don't think they even know the word "etiquette" around here.. not even "customer service" ;-)
IchWill - he is the manager ... and i did write a letter already. left a message to his secretary. its really frustrating!
ramil26 - we did try that already, delayed the contract signing til they fixed what needed to be fixed. they fixed 1 thing, so we compromised.. problem was, after we gave them what they wanted, they did not bother with us again to complete their job! also, we are the ones who needs their service which we are entitled to! we are paying monthly dues in full!
lol. sorry for the rant :)
its surprising how these kinds of character can work in the professional field!
Plushed, stop talking to a wall, this is their culture, (if they have one) attitude and their upbringing, respect, ettiquette and the likes are non- existent in their world,these things must be innate to every evolved homo sapien, they are yet to learn that. in our company, important offices have answering machines saying they do not answer phones and asks you to call back an hour before the day ends, needless to say they wouldnt answer or if they did, will tell you that they will answer the following day , because they are about to go home.
Learn to dance with their music, document everything and delay payment. do not answer their call as well. teach them a hard lesson
absurd, barbaric, and unprofessional, yet it works.
Very few nationalities who has phone etiquettes here you can even count on your fingers.....
In this case you should probably just go to their office or write to them. Does this person has a supervisor or a manager that you could speak to?
I have been in Qatar for almost 8 years. In my experience, property management companies/businesses in Qatar offer two grades of service:
1. Bad service
2. Extremely bad service
Sorry but it is what it is. You better go there and shout and make their lives very difficult otherwise they won't help you.
I seldom answer telephone calls unless I am in a good mood.
WK..maybe he was gonna die and he wanted your help!!how mean...
happy...now I know why you never turn my call..:( lol
Unreturned missed calls means I want you to go missing for the time being ...:)
etiquette is not in his vocabulary or worse he does not know what it means
i dont call THAT many times. lol. and if i had the choice i wouldnt even call him. ever. the problem is, he's responsible for the villa that our company has contract with. :(
no point in keep calling them. you got to understand..
Once a guy called me 68 times and I didn't pick up the phone. Eventually my battery died :P
We assume that after not picking up the call 2-3 times, the other party will get the message that we don't want to talk.