Many companies today answer their phone with a long winded answer. As
> a customer, I find it annoying and distracting. Which do you think is > best?
> a) "Jones & Co."
b) "Good morning, Jones & Co."
> c) "Thank you for calling Jones & Co, this is John Smith speaking, how
> may I direct your call?"
> d) "Thank you for calling Jones & Co, this is John Smith speaking, how
> may I give you the best customer service ever today?"
I think that (d) is a crock, as too is (c) -- along with the equally annoying variant 'blah blah blah ... how may I help you?' **
In general, (b) should be fine although it does depend on who you are. Do you have a direct line, with people calling your number specifically to speak to you? Then a name would be appropriate. Otherwise, if you are a 'front desk' or general dog's-body type person, (b) is perfectly adequate.
cheers,
Henry
** PS: And what _really_ gets my goat after the pseudo-formality of the 'how may I help you?' routine is when they then immediately shift down to their normal overly-familiar approach:"Thank you for calling Jones & Co; this is John Smith speaking. How may I help you?"
[I have never dealt with this John Smith before.]'Good morning, Mr Smith. This is Henry Larsen calling about the order I placed last week'.
"Oh, hi Henry! Yeah, lemme just bring it up on my computer here...."
Grrrrrrrr.