Would You Hold Please?

I’m very willing to learn something new, but the new phone system we just had installed has become a bit of a challenge for me. They have been working on transferring to the new system for a while now, and one day I walked into my office and on my desk was a new desktop phone and a cheat sheet for how to work it.

Umm … okay, now what?

I’m the type of person who learns by doing – hands on. You can tell me and show me, but I have to then do it by myself. I have to know the why of how something works too, so I ask a lot of questions.

On the first day with the new phone system, I was trying to put someone on park, not hold. I was getting frustrated and was saying things, when I heard the customer say, “Geri, I’m still here.” I was so embarrassed and apologized. Thank goodness he ia a good customer and we had a good laugh.

So, if someone calls and I need to put them on hold, I’m not sure what to say. Should I ask: Would you hold please? Or should I ask, Can I please park you?