The Voice of Customer Service

Title:The Voice of Customer ServiceWord Count:823Summary:Customer service is about more than mouthing thewords customers want to hear in a manner so as toconvey our inflection. It is important tounderstand where in a sentence we put the emphasis.Using a pleasant tone, effective intonation, andempathic emotion our voice can go a long way

toward helping customers feel heard, valued andcared for.Keywords:customer service, customer retention,motivational speaker, sales trainer, salestraining, salesmanship, sales trainer, salestraining, cold calls, humorist, storyteller,communicator, better communicationArticle Body:Customer relationship management tools abound,yet let's hear it for old technology. Your voiceis the most multifaceted customer service tool inyour toolkit. Your voice can convey concern, careand compassion. It can alternately convey boredom,neglect or contempt. Your challenge: to insureyour voice reinforces the service you strive todeliver through your actual words and action.

Customer service is about more than mouthing thewords customers want to hear. You have to soundbelievable. How do you sound? Try this experiment.Call your own answering machine and leaveyourself a message normally intended for yourcustomers. Now replay it. Are you convincing?Does sincerity ring from your voice or are youjust mouthing clich 閟 in a disinterestedfashion?Depending your tone of voice you can alternatelysound:Compassionate or CondescendingConfident or InsecureKnowledgeable or IgnorantAttentive or DisinterestedFocused or ScatteredAlive or ComatosePick one of the following phrases:

揟 hank you for calling. We 抮 e excited to serveyou.?揥 elcome back. It 抯 so nice to see you again.?揥 e 抳 e missed you. Thank you for coming inagain.?Mouth it a few times to a colleague next to youor over the phone to a friend.- Now ask your listener: \"How do I sound?\"- When you 抮 e monotonal you may sound flat andlifeless.- How does this sound when you 抮 e tired?Uninspired?- How does this sound when you 抮 e expressive? Doyou generate good will and energy?- How does this sound when you 抮 e sincere? Is

there a genuine quality to your voice?- How does this sound when you 抮 e friendly? Doeswarmth emanate from your conversation?- How does this sound when you are smiling? Doesyour good humor come translate?<b>Mirror Mirror on the Desk</b>There is a reason many telesales and customerservice representatives have mirrors on theirdesk. It 抯 not to admire their beauty or toinsure the proverbial spinach isn 抰 stuck totheir teeth. In this case, the mirror has twopurposes. First, as a reminder to reps to smilewhile on the phone. Even though their smile isn抰 seen by listeners, it is felt. When we smileit loosens up our jaws and relaxes us. This is thenconveyed through our voice. We sound more relaxed,friendly and open because we are. The act ofsmiling activates certain muscles in our face andneck and actually alters our disposition for the

better. The mirror both reminds us to smile andconfirms we are when we glance at it periodically.Not to sound overly Dramatics, but 揥 hat you seeis what they get.?<b>Inflection</b>When we consider the message our voice sendscustomers, don 抰 forget to consider yourinflection. It is important to understand wherein a sentence you put the emphasis. What words doyou accentuate? Which words do you emphasize?Depending on your placement of accent you can senddifferent messages with the same set of words.Consider the following statement: 揑 t 抯 allover my friend.?Depending on the placement ofaccent and pause, this statement could eitherlament the end of a successful run of some sort,or be describing the result of a sick bird flyingoverhead of your pal.Similarly, this statement, based on inflection,may send two entirely different messages: 揥 hat抯 that in the road ahead??or 揥 hat 抯 that in

the road, a head??You can see how inflectionsinform. Let 抯 make sure the information weconvey is supported by our inflections.Actors often take the Shakespearean phrase 搕 obe or not to be, that is the question?and repeatit alternately while emphasizing different words.For instance, one variant might be 揟 o be or NOT,to be THAT is the question!?Revisiting our triplet of phrases let 抯 see howinflection alters their meaning:揟 hank you for calling. We 抮 e delighted to serveyou.?We can place the accent on different words toconvey different sentiments. The capital lettersindicate the words being accented through ourinflection.揟 HANK you for calling. We 抮 e delighted to serveyou.?揟 hank you for CALLING. We 抮 e delighted to serve

you.?揟 hank you for calling. We 抮 e DELIGHTED to serveyou.?揟 hank you for calling. We 抮 e delighted to SERVEyou.?揟 hank YOU for calling. We 抮 e delighted to serveYOU.?For yourself, try this same exercise with each ofthe statements below, accenting different wordswithin each sentence so as to find the inflectionthat best conveys your sentiment.揥 elcome back. It 抯 so nice to see you again.?揥 e 抳 e missed you. Thank you for coming inagain.?<b>Voice Your Concern</b>Using a pleasant tone, effective intonation, andempathic emotion your voice can go a long waytoward helping customers feel heard, valued andcared for. Mama was right, it is more than whatyou say, it's how you say it too.