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Telephone Tip-Delivering Great Customer Service With Your Voice
Sunday, January 29th, 2006Telephone Tip- Delivering Great Customer Service With Your Voice
The sound of the voice is a physical experience for the listener and accounts for up to 97% of the impression we make when on the telephone. On top of that, 30% of our
voice energy is lost over the telephone equipment making us sound more impersonal.
We all have dealt with customer service, often with mixed feelings about receiving care with our best interest at heart. Much of our misgivings are directly correlated to how the customer service person “sounds” when taking care of us.
In audiences I have polled, attendees said the voices that turn them off when on the telephone sound: abrupt, in a hurry, indifferent, pushy, rude, insensitive, and
sometimes not professional in the words and language being used.
Sue, an audience member and an operator for a large telephone company, told us that her call goal was to make each person she talked to feel they were special. I asked the audience if they experienced this with calls they received and almost all said “No”. “How would you feel about having a conversation with Sue?” The response was, “It would be great.”, ” I would want to talk to her and do business with her.” Sue knows the key.
Our voice reflects our intentions and attitudes. What she was talking about was building a relationship with each client. She made them feel good about themselves and doing businesswith her.
We too can help others feel good about themselves and the choice they made to do business with us.
Here are ways for you to boost your energy and your intentions for building customer rapport over the telephone:
- Know what you want your voice to project
Enthusiasm, sincerity, caring, warmth? - Warm up your voice before speaking
(see warm up exercises on our web site)
http://www.myvoicespeakssuccess.com - Put a smile in your voice by smiling
- Sit erect at your desk
- Use your voice to guide them at a feeling level
- Listen-really listen for needs
- Use a moderate volume
- Demonstrate sincere interest
- Stand up or walk around to relieve stress
- Use a mirror and look at it before and during the call
- Be patient
- Respond not react
- Think before you think before you speak-make each word count
When you have a tone of voice that others love doing business with, you will making and receiving your calls with more personal satisfaction. Add a friendly and sincere tone to the following words and language and you will truly be appreciated by your customers and well remembered.
Acceptable words and language that build relationships:
- This: “Hello, Good morning…”, “Good afternoon…”
* Not: “Hi there”, “Hey…”, “What’s up?” - This:”My pleasure…”, “I’m glad we could help.”,
“Happy to do so.”
* Not: “No problem.” - This:”May I put you on hold?”
* Not:”Can you hold please?”(and you don’t wait for a reply),
“Hold on.”, “Just a sec.” - This: “Yes. Certainly.”
* Not:”OK.”, “Sure.”, “Uh huh.”, “Yep”, “Yeah.” - This: Listening to complete sentences from customer
* Not: Interrupting while someone is already talking - This: Getting clarity by rephrasing back, “What I hear you
saying is…”
* Not:Being defensive, rehearsing your answer, making
assumptions. - This: “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
* Not:(hanging up first) - This: Proper grammar
* Not:Ain’t, got none
Always listen for ways to respond that serves your customer. As a professional communicator it is your job to maintain a positive win-win attitude. Say “Today my customers will hear a warm voice that will let them know we have a warm heart.”
Build your communication muscle every day.Practice talking out loud before you get to work to warm up the voice, body, and mind. Or you can talk to the other drivers
if you don’t already do that!
