Tone Matters Most

Have you ever heard the phrase, “90% of what you say isn’t coming out of your mouth?” What’s being referred to is nonverbal communication; Haptics (touch), Kinesics (body movement/gestures), Proxemics (personal space), Oculesics (eye contact), Facial Expressions, Physical Appearance, Artifacts (objects/adornments), and Vocalics/Paralanguage (voice tone/pitch). When you have a CSR answering the phone the only nonverbal communication being used is vocalics or their tone. It’s not necessarily what they’re saying, but rather how they’re saying it. Of course, word choice matters in communication, but the delivery of those words matters more.

When you are looking at hiring a CSR, always start with a phone interview and pay attention to how the potential hire sounds. Do they sound like they’re smiling? What filler words are they using as they speak to you? What would you rate their confidence on a scale from 1 to 10? Have them say your preferred company’s greeting so you can hear how they will answer your phones. You can train someone on what to say, but training them how to say it is much harder.

If you already have a CSR and want their tone to improve there are ways to help. First, you need to be recording the phone calls. Most people are unaware of how they sound until they hear it for themselves. Start by creating call parameters around tone. For example, how welcoming, and confident do they sound on a scale from 1 to 10? Then, have your CSR listen to their own calls and score their tone and then practice restating it in a better way. Tone can only be improved by self awareness and practice.

Your Customer Service Representative’s tone of voice is the customers first impression of your business and can either set up your technician to succeed or fail. Make sure you are hiring the person with the tone you want to represent your business and communicate with your customers.