Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
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Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#2What’s the real meaning behind the words they’re using? ... Put yourself in their shoes and understand the problem you need to solve.
I've found it to my great advantage to let the customer know that I can (hold the ability), and that I will (choose to) help them. This needs to be spoken as well as using the correct tone. Nothing is more frustrating to a client than to feel like they are not being heard. Of course, you have to back this up with actions.
Sometimes I have a customer who is really a trouble maker, I tend to shut them down quickly because I've dealt with their type before. But I feel like there must be a better way. I know it'll end the same (they won't agree with my pricing, terms, support, yadda) but maybe a better parting of ways.
Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#3What’s the real meaning behind the words they’re using? ... Put yourself in their shoes and understand the problem you need to solve. I've found it to my great advantage to let the customer know that I can (hold the ability), and that I will (choose to) help them. This needs to be spoken as well as using the correct tone. Nothing is more frustrating to a client than to feel like they are not being heard. Of course, y…
You can offer them what they are seeking, but with terms they are not willing to go along with. This way they are the ones ultimatey saying “no”.
It’s just like giving a quote for an unsavory work gig. You essentially ask for “more” (work, time, etc) on their part in exchange for your commitment.
I suppose this is probably considered some type of negotiation.
Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#4Interesting point about using a person's name. I've always associated that with a slightly patronising manner, which makes me wonder what're they after.
An old boss used to drive me up the wall, as any vaguely difficult conversation he wanted to have would be peppered with my name - it can easily go too far and rapidly become false
Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#5Interesting point about using a person's name. I've always associated that with a slightly patronising manner, which makes me wonder what're they after. An old boss used to drive me up the wall, as any vaguely difficult conversation he wanted to have would be peppered with my name - it can easily go too far and rapidly become false
For short messages, I open and close with the person's name. For longer messages, I pepper in the name at points where I feel they may need a reminder that I'm here to help or to emphasize that I care. You're right that if you overdo it, you can create a Stepford-Wives vibe, but if you write the way you speak, it should be pretty easy to avoid.
Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#6Maybe it's just me, but 'negative' politeness has always been my default conversation mode. I didn't even know what it was until a few months ago, or that people studied 'politeness strategies'. Being deferential with words leaves open the opportunity for dialogue, and doesn't bite you in the ass if you're mistaken. Of course, it can be appropriate to be more direct in certain circumstances, and tone can change the perception of modal statements from sincere to patronizing very easily. Still, to me, it seems like people are more willing to seriously consider direct statements when it's not your usual attitude. "This person is very careful about making definite statements, and they seem very confident about what they just said". When what you want isn't to manipulate people but to have them open their mind to the possibility that what you're saying is true, that train of thought (and I know this exists because I've thought so myself several times) is very valuable.
Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#7Interesting point about using a person's name. I've always associated that with a slightly patronising manner, which makes me wonder what're they after. An old boss used to drive me up the wall, as any vaguely difficult conversation he wanted to have would be peppered with my name - it can easily go too far and rapidly become false
For short messages, I open and close with the person's name. For longer messages, I pepper in the name at points where I feel they may need a reminder that I'm here to help or to emphasize that I care. You're right that if you overdo it, you can create a Stepford-Wives vibe, but if you write the way you speak, it should be pretty easy to avoid.
Why is it important to remind someone of their own name in the middle of a long conversation?
Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#8Maybe it's just me, but 'negative' politeness has always been my default conversation mode. I didn't even know what it was until a few months ago, or that people studied 'politeness strategies'. Being deferential with words leaves open the opportunity for dialogue, and doesn't bite you in the ass if you're mistaken. Of course, it can be appropriate to be more direct in certain circumstances, and tone can change the p…
This attorney Wayne Jarvis's approach.
Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#9There is a POV baked into these suggestions that isn't called out. I would retitle the article "10 ways to Weaken your tone of voice."
All of these are ways to make your voice less direct, less straightforward, more deferent.
These can be good tools in your toolbox, but success in using them is entirely context-dependent.
Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers
#10Realistically customer service is done by a team rather than one individual and the members of that team will vary in ability. Tactics are therefore needed to get the company tone of voice right regardless of who is on the phones and tickets on a given day.
Customer service need support too. If a customer service team is well supported and not considered lowest of the low within the company then they will naturally project a more confident and enthusiastic tone than if they are not supported, not considered worthy and seemingly at a never ending queue of work that can never be done to their own or the customers satisfaction.
How to achieve this? A high level of automation helps. A contact us page that has relevant boxes is a good start, if you know that they will need something sent to them in the post or proof of purchase details then you can ask for that up front and have an automated response that puts their ticket on hold emailing them for missing details. These emails can be in a template where the tone of voice is well considered and polite, not the text speak of a busy customer service agent.
Reducing time on the phone is also important, if you need to send a code to someone, e.g. a coupon code for goodwill reasons, then you can make that code a simple mix of letters and numbers that take less time to dictate over the phone, unambiguous (no '1's, 'l's) and you can also embed a digit that the customer service can easily check for validity. 'A23S45J' will be easier to dictate than 'XJWR-TYWE-RE3T-TTT3', taking a lot less than half the time. Furthermore, the 'A' in 'A23S45J' could be the code for January and 'S' + 'J' could be the initials of that particular customer service agent, so, in aggregate you know who in the team is giving out the freebees (or converting angry customers into happy ones).
Supporting the customer service team also requires having good answers, so if you have a duff product and lots of people complaining about it then you don't want to have the customer service team taking the customer side and 'going rogue' against the company in off-piste ways. Or, on the flipside, having the customer service team getting angry with the customers in this unsolvable situation.
There also needs to be useful metrics, 'quality circles' to make sure that new areas of complaint can be solved in a structured manner and also some mechanism for feedback from the support desk to other company departments, e.g. design. It is no good if the guys in design take six months to learn of a new product flaw.
The more you can get the customer service team to feel that they are winning and are valued then the more confident and enthusiastic they will be. This tone will naturally be projected to customers and, if you get that right then there is no reason for a formerly angry customer to not right a rave review, to become a fan of the product and for their online review to be valued to the customer service team as well as to other potential customers.
As for using the customer's name, if a customer service agent is on top of their game, i.e. enthusiastic and confident rather than overwhelmed, then they will be far more inclined to develop a personal 'bond' with the customer to solve their problem and use their name as a matter of course. It should be a pleasure to pick up the phone in less than three rings for a customer service agent rather than phones ringing off the hook with every call prefaced by fear and dread.
If problems can't be solved then no amount of couched faux language and name dropping will help the situation.