I'm over here thinkin'....
Or maybe I'm overthinking. Can someone please tell me if this is awkward because I need to know. . .
Working in an office and dealing with [many] various types of people all day long, I haven't had the choice but to deal with the public. Hands down, it isn't easy. Over my almost-five-years of working behind the front desk at a relatively busy office, I've gained a massive amount of customer service experience. Including, spending half of my time working on the phone. I'm on the phone with patients booking and confirming appointments, I'm on the phone with doctors about our patients and I'm on the phone with insurance companies. Still, this particular question comes to mind and I need answers! Here it is:
When talking on the phone for example - to a family member, to a friend, to a secretary, to a doctor's office; when concluding the conversation, is saying a simple "good-bye" necessary?
Now here's the big stink with me. I'm usually overly conscious of these little "things," and I find it pretty funny that I wrap my head around these little "things" in the first place, but a girl hasta' know! Do you conclude your conversations with a "good-bye," or a "bye-bye," or a simple "bye" instead of just hanging up? Here's a little example of what I'm talking about:
Me: "Okay great! You're all confirmed for tomorrow's appointment! We will see you then!"
Patient: "Okay." *Click*
Me: ? ? ? "Okay! Great! Thank you! Bye-bye!"
Patient: ----- *Dial tone in my ear.
Me: *Hangs up phone to receiver*
You see what I mean here? I'm left stranded on the phone with a dial-tone, readily aiming a "Have a great day" or "Take care" to a...dial-tone. I mean...
What if I had more to say? What if there was more information that needed to be exchanged? What if I wanted to tell you to "Have a Nice Day?" What if, just what if...all the best information is saved for the very last portion of the phone call? Well, if I had more to say now I have to take the additional several seconds to redial the phone number, to continue a conversation that was abruptly cut-off. How great is that? (Insert sarcasm here).
That's the thing with working with the public, there's so many personalities. I can tell by the first second how a conversation over the phone will go. People love reminder calls, people don't want to be bothered. People want you to call a day before their appointments to confirm, people want you to confirm on an hourly basis. People want their cell phones called, people want their house phones between 12:05 and 3:47 pm to be called. Anyway, I pose the question:
Is it necessary to say "Good-bye" before hanging up the phone?
You know my answer, but I want to know yours!
Is this normal? Am I the only one that thinks of these things? Do people even consider this at all? Anyway, you tell me if this is weird or not. I'd say on a day where I'm talking to about 30 patients over the phone booking and confirming their appointments, more than half aren't concluding conversations with a "good-bye." That's approximately a minute or two a conversation. That equates to at least 30 minutes (minimum) of unfinished business, if you know what I mean. A whole half hour of my life left wondering about the conclusions!If you didn't already catch it, my answer is absolutely. You need to conclude a conversation over the phone with "Bye." At least give me a "Bye!"
