The Service Advocate…
How many times have we received this on the other end of the line when we called a business organisation? A famous movie coined the term  ‘you had me at hello’. When we call some organisations we feel this same way, but not in a positive way. It is a disgusted, annoyed, disinterested or unhelpful ‘hello’ that we hear frequently and think to ourselves that we are not interested in talking to this person. In some businesses, the first point of contact with the customer is a telephone call, thus it’s the first impression that is created by the business for the  customer. Hence, the business should try to create a good first impression for these customers.
Last week, we discussed communicating – verbal and non verbal – specifically face to face communications. We looked at body language, tone of voice and personal contact among others. This week we will discuss communicating via telephone. The use of the telephone is commonly used and it is one of the easiest forms of communications.
We all have telephones or we all have spoken on a telephone. “So, what’s so special about talking on a telephone with a customer? It is the same as if I am having a personal conversation.”  This is a common misconception that we all have. As employees, we cannot understand why we should be trained to answer a telephone and as an employer, we do not think that is it necessary to train our employees. However, like every other practice in customer service, employees should answer telephones courteously and pleasantly.
Answering a phone is different to talking with a customer face to face. However, some of the basic principles of customer service still apply. The first thing to do before answering a telephone call is to smile. Yes, smile! The question on everyone’s mind is ‘Why should I smile, the person on the other end of the phone cannot see me? So I don’t think I need to smile’. This is another one of the misconceptions that persons have. When we smile, it changes our whole persona. Stop for a moment, try smiling genuinely, how do you feel? Everyone may have different feelings, but they all reflect a level of happiness. When we feel happy, it is projected in our voices. Your voice sounds friendlier, warm, compassionate and receptive.  On the other hand, if we are angry, annoyed or disinterested, customers will also note the negativity in our voices.
We should be aware of our tone, volume and stress on certain words when  we are talking on the telephone. We do not want customers to feel we are screaming at them if we speak too loudly or if we speak so softly that it is inaudible and they need to ask us to repeat ourselves. A balance needs to be found in our speech, so that customers can hear us clearly and it is not loud to make customers feel we are screaming at them. This can be done by practicing aloud. Begin by practising very loudly, and then gradually lower the volume of your voice until you find your  best ‘telephone voice’. We have to be aware of how we speak and how we stress on certain words. When we want to make a point, we ensure that we place emphasis on specific words so that the impact of our message is conveyed. Likewise, when we are angry or annoyed we stress on words or parts of the sentence to let our listeners know what our mood is. Hence we need to ensure that when we are speaking we make a conscious effort to put the stress on our words positively and not negatively.
Pacing yourself and breathing are two other factors to consider. Pacing yourself when you are speaking is essential. Customers do not like to spend excessive time on the phone but at the same time they do not want feel as though you are rushing them off. The customer will only listen to the part of the message that they consider  important  and will ignore the remainder. Thus, you should use as little words as possible to convey the message ensuring that it is clear and that the customer understands you. Some persons may wonder why breathing is important, we breathe all the time. Breathing is important because if we do not pace ourselves and we speak very quickly, our breathing becomes shallower and quicker. When our breathing becomes shallower and quicker, our vocal cords tighten making our voices go up and sound strained.
We should always remember to smile and practice the above  points. They  bring out our friendliness and receptiveness, and ensure our customers have a wonderful telephone experience.
(Nadine King and Tameca Sukhdeo-Singh can be contacted at email: cru@networksgy.com)