The Voice of Customer Service

The Voice of Customer Service

Customer service is about more than mouthing the words customers want to hear in a manner so as to convey our inflection. It is important to understand where in a sentence we put the emphasis. Using a pleasant tone, effective intonation, and empathic emotion our voice can go a long way toward helping customers feel heard, valued and cared for.

Customer relationship management tools abound, yet let’s hear it for old technology. Your voice is the most multifaceted customer service tool in your toolkit. Your voice can convey concern, care and compassion. It can alternately convey boredom, neglect or contempt. Your challenge: to insure your voice reinforces the service you strive to deliver through your actual words and action.

Customer service is about more than mouthing the words customers want to hear. You have to sound believable. How do you sound? Try this experiment. Call your own answering machine and leave yourself a message normally intended for your customers. Now replay it. Are you convincing? Does sincerity ring from your voice or are you just mouthing clichés in a disinterested fashion?

Depending your tone of voice you can alternately sound:
Compassionate or Condescending
Confident or Insecure
Knowledgeable or Ignorant
Attentive or Disinterested
Focused or Scattered
Alive or Comatose

Pick one of the following phrases:

“Thank you for calling. We’re excited to serve you.”

“Welcome back. It’s so nice to see you again.”

“We’ve missed you. Thank you for coming in again.”

Mouth it a few times to a colleague next to you or over the phone to a friend.

- Now ask your listener: “How do I sound?”

- When you’re monotonal you may sound flat and lifeless.

- How does this sound when you’re tired? Uninspired?

- How does this sound when you’re expressive? Do you generate good will and energy?

- How does this sound when you’re sincere? Is there a genuine quality to your voice?

- How does this sound when you’re friendly? Does warmth emanate from your conversation?

- How does this sound when you are smiling? Does your good humor come translate?

<b>Mirror Mirror on the Desk</b>
There is a reason many telesales and customer service representatives have mirrors on their desk. It’s not to admire their beauty or to insure the proverbial spinach isn’t stuck to their teeth. In this case, the mirror has two purposes. First, as a reminder to reps to smile while on the phone. Even though their smile isn’t seen by listeners, it is felt. When we smile it loosens up our jaws and relaxes us. This is then conveyed through our voice. We sound more relaxed, friendly and open because we are. The act of smiling activates certain muscles in our face and neck and actually alters our disposition for the better. The mirror both reminds us to smile and confirms we are when we glance at it periodically. Not to sound overly Dramatics, but “What you see is what they get.”

<b>Inflection</b>
When we consider the message our voice sends customers, don’t forget to consider your inflection. It is important to understand where in a sentence you put the emphasis. What words do you accentuate? Which words do you emphasize? Depending on your placement of accent you can send different messages with the same set of words. Consider the following statement: “It’s all over my friend.” Depending on the placement of accent and pause, this statement could either lament the end of a successful run of some sort, or be describing the result of a sick bird flying overhead of your pal.

Similarly, this statement, based on inflection, may send two entirely different messages: “What’s that in the road ahead?” or “What’s that in the road, a head?” You can see how inflections inform. Let’s make sure the information we convey is supported by our inflections.

Actors often take the Shakespearean phrase “to be or not to be, that is the question” and repeat it alternately while emphasizing different words. For instance, one variant might be “To be or NOT, to be THAT is the question!”

Revisiting our triplet of phrases let’s see how inflection alters their meaning:

“Thank you for calling. We’re delighted to serve you.”

We can place the accent on different words to convey different sentiments. The capital letters indicate the words being accented through our inflection.

“THANK you for calling. We’re delighted to serve you.”

“Thank you for CALLING. We’re delighted to serve you.”

“Thank you for calling. We’re DELIGHTED to serve you.”

“Thank you for calling. We’re delighted to SERVE you.”

“Thank YOU for calling. We’re delighted to serve YOU.”

For yourself, try this same exercise with each of the statements below, accenting different words within each sentence so as to find the inflection that best conveys your sentiment.

“Welcome back. It’s so nice to see you again.”

“We’ve missed you. Thank you for coming in again.”

<b>Voice Your Concern</b>
Using a pleasant tone, effective intonation, and empathic emotion your voice can go a long way toward helping customers feel heard, valued and cared for. Mama was right, it is more than what you say, it’s how you say it too.

Choosing a Topic For Your Article

Choosing a Topic For Your Article

There are many things to consider when writing an article. One of the main ones is the choice of topic. Choosing a topic you are passionate about is important for several reasons.

· Your writing will not only flow more easily, but your enthusiasm will show through and affect the reader in a positive way.

· Editors like enthusiasm in writing.

· You will know much about your topic, thus saving a lot of time in research.

· Your writing task will be a joy to do.

You might feel that writing in the area of your interest is too limiting, but it is possible to branch out into areas that are similar. For instance, if your area of expertise is in chemistry, then writing about health should not be too much of a learning curve. It will also give you a wider scope for selling your articles. Many magazines have a health section. Health topics can be widened to include such topics as sporting injuries and how to treat them, or nutrition. Nutrition can focus on various age groups. See how the ripples widen? In no time you’ll be able to submit articles to many different magazines or websites and you’ll still be writing with passion and enthusiasm.

Choosing your own topic is easier if you decide to write freelance. You can submit to magazines specializing in that topic, but what happens if you are asked to write about a topic you hate, or know little about? If you are a skilled researcher and writer you will bring all your skills to bear on doing the job correctly. Otherwise, consider refusing. If, for example, you are asked to write about finance and investments and you are not even familiar with the terms used, then unless you are a quick learner and love research, your reputation might suffer.

Publishing articles on the Internet is even riskier to your reputation, since there is not always an editor to scrutinize the details and say yea or nay. You must not only get your facts right, but offer good solid meat in your article. An article that includes the basic information that everyone but the man from Mars knows, will make you a laughing stock in the article world.

For example, everyone knows that Fido needs to be fed, watered and exercised properly to be a happy doggie. But does everyone know that his drooping ears need to be inspected carefully for ticks or disease? Do they know the symptoms of a certain disease that particular breed is prone to and what to do about it? Have they heard about that old remedy that will save them a bomb at the vet? If you can provide information such as this in your article, you will soon have a happy readership.

Blogging to market.

Blog your way to profits

why your business needs blog marketing
Everybody has picked up the trend of blogging. And blogging has picked up the money-making scheme.
If you have a blog and have not used that to make money online, then you are being left behind by the others who are already making some good profits from blogs.

How do they do that?

Selling advertising though blogs.

This is the most common ways of making blogs produce income. The process is simple. If your blog is one of those more famous and well-read, you can it to sell ad space all by yourself. But for those not so famous blogs, there are services that can be used to set up an ad program. The widely used one is Adsense.

Adsense lets you choose some ads that are somewhat related to what your site is about. You are then paid based on the number of the readers that clicked on the ads to check them out. Why people opt for Adsense is because they can get it for free.

Blogs as an affiliate program.

This is another one of those click-through opportunities. This allows blogs to serve as a medium between the affiliate sites and the readers. When a visitor became interested on something that you have promoted on your blogs, they can click on the link that you have provided that will lead directly to the affiliate site.

Once the customer has decided to buy or avail of what is offered, you will get a commission based on the sale made.

Soliciting though blogs.

As opposed to the first two mentioned, you are not offering something to your readers. On the contrary, you are counting on their kindness and seeking out their help. You can ask for contributions, whether money or goods, for a certain cause.

If your readers are taken or is moved by what you have written, there is a likely possibility that they will be more than willing to help you.

Blogging to market.

Blogs are a way of generating new businesses and getting potential customers. If you already have a product or service being offered, you can try and offer more and new things though blogs.

They can be your own or in reference to other site or business that you want to offer your readers.
With the publicity that blogs are getting nowadays, there is no doubt that it has become one of the most effective income generating tool online today.