Setting the Tone for a Positive Call

Open the Call with a Smile

Believe it, a smile can be heard and a ‘smiling voice’ is more welcoming and relaxing. Your caller will subconsciously appreciate it and like you.

One of Call Centre Helper’s readers, Kevin, has found that “indeed it does work". We have done practice sessions where two advisors sit back to back and one of them talks and the other listens.

“They can normally hear if the advisor is smiling, as well as things like posture. It also comes across if someone is grumpy and slouching.

“In fact, if you try to put on a positive tone without smiling it’s very difficult. I suppose that is where the cheesy phrase ‘Smile and Dial’ comes from.”

Start the Conversation With a “Warm Up”

Start the conversation with a simple question that will let your caller know you are human!

This could be ‘how is your day so far?’ or ‘how is the weather where you are today? Better than here, I hope!’ Most people will respond to you in a friendly manner and it helps to relax you and your caller by breaking the ice.

Reply to their answer with a relevant but positive response and then move the call forward, with something like: “That’s great, I’m glad you are having a good day. How can I help with your call today?” Or, “So the weather is as bad as it is here. Never mind, the sun could be out tomorrow for us. How can I help with your call today?”

Listen Well

Advisors are often told to employ active listening, where they are basically instructed to avoid distractions and allow themselves to concentrate on your caller and their conversation.

This is important, but you could even take this one step further and use reflective listening. This is where you try to understand the customer’s points and then repeat them back, to ensure that everything has been fully understood.

By doing so, you are demonstrating to the customer that you are mentally engaged in the process, while you can do your bit to ensure mutual understanding.

Let the Caller Know You Are Listening

Let the caller know you are listening by responding with gentle and soft ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ as they speak. These are also known as “verbal nods”.

Allow the speaker to finish what they are saying – practice this with every call. If you interrupt, your caller could become frustrated. No matter how many techniques you are taught to use on the phone, common courtesy will always be essential.

Use Words That Your Caller Uses

Use words that your caller uses in their conversation, especially any adjectives – the words they use to describe something. They have chosen to use these words, so they have a relevance to the content; an alternative word may not have the same meaning for them.

For example, if your caller says: “the results were excellent”, the word ‘excellent ‘was chosen because it reflects what the speaker felt. To build rapport use the same word back at any relevant time.

So, you should say something like: “I agree with what you said earlier, the results were excellent."

If you were to reply with: “I agree with what you said earlier, the results were ok”, it will subconsciously confuse your caller, because they didn’t say “ok”; their chosen word was “excellent."

Show Empathy With Your Caller

To show empathy means to share in another’s emotions, thoughts, or feelings, and is a great way of building rapport.

Empathy can be shown by using phrases such as:

• “I understand what you mean.”
• “I can see where you are coming from.”
• “That must have made you feel really good.”

Go Off Script

If you are uptight or trying to be someone or something you are not, it will act as a barrier to building rapport. However, it is often hard to not be “something” you are not when following a script.

So, if you read a script as part of your job, put your own personality into it, so that it sounds as though the words are your words and that you are not reading from a piece of paper.

Use inflection, modulation, and pitch to help make the script interesting for the listener. Your caller will thank you for it. Isn’t it true that we sometimes ‘switch off’ when we hear what sounds like a script being read to us? Be Friendly.

Be friendly. It is possible to remain professional and courteous and still be friendly. This is easily achieved by using good inflection and modulation in your voice, by showing an interest in your caller’s conversation and by sharing laughter in light-hearted moments, when the opportunity to do so arises during the call.

While advisors are often told to try and mirror the customer’s tone, it can be good to try to stay upbeat and positive, as this will hopefully “rub-off” on the customer too.

Click here to see a video that explains the tone of voice in communication.