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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

#31

Post by jklinger410 »

davidmoffatt wrote: post #24

We have too much of this saccharin sweet but vacuous tech support. What you really need to do is. 1) Be polite even when they are not. (The authors approach of doing this makes you sound like a teenager trying to take the car on a date, skip it) 2) hear what the customer is really saying not what you think they are saying. Don't immediately bucket them. 3) Calm the customer down. "Yes Ma'am, I don't know why it isn't…

>hear what the customer is really saying not what you think they are saying. Don't immediately bucket them.

I have learned that this is a really nuanced skill and requires a level of maturity that is beyond some people.

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#32

Post by fmfamaral »

Theodores wrote: post #10

Realistically 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 p…

Wow, that's almost another article on itself. Great inputs!

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#33

Post by [deleted] »

nmstoker wrote: post #4

Interesting 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

[deleted]

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#34

Post by joshvm »

nmstoker wrote: post #4

Interesting 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

I assume people do this as a result of Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People:

> Remember that a person's name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

This may have been sound advice in 1936, but maybe we've just changed socially? There's a subtlety here: people like it when you remember their names, but they find it creepy if you don't have an established relationship.

If you meet someone again in a business or social context, saying "Hi, X, right?" is a reasonable way to improve rapport. Definitely better than the awkward moment where you re-introduce yourself to someone you've already met. However, when you're trying to haggle a mobile contract upgrade and the rep is constantly using your name, that's uncanny valley.

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#35

Post by andyidsinga »

davidmoffatt wrote: post #24

We have too much of this saccharin sweet but vacuous tech support. What you really need to do is. 1) Be polite even when they are not. (The authors approach of doing this makes you sound like a teenager trying to take the car on a date, skip it) 2) hear what the customer is really saying not what you think they are saying. Don't immediately bucket them. 3) Calm the customer down. "Yes Ma'am, I don't know why it isn't…

I started off my career in tech as a support technician - worked on both end user/consumer product and business/corporate client support.

I can say without a doubt #3 and #4 are the absolute most important things a support technician can do - and do fast after answering the call.

I had so many irate customers - just like my wife is with me when it's her turn to call the phone company(!). The second they believed I was going to fix their problem and not waste their time - we would be on the same team.

Corollary - try hard to never, ever, EVER pass a customer to someone else. I would tell them my name, their case number and tell them if they call back to ask for me ..and then more or less demand in the case notes that the next technician pass them back to me (caveat: as long as the customer was ok with that).

I look so fondly on my time doing tech support - but geeze was it rough emotionally.

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#36

Post by jpatokal »

nmstoker wrote: post #4

Interesting 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

There are also many cultures where using someone's first name is outright rude. In Japan, this is reserved for very close friends; in Finland, calling somebody by first name in conversation just sounds odd, period. You already know who I am and have my attention, why are you repeating it?

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#37

Post by jpatokal »

gnicholas wrote: post #25
alleyshack wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely hate people using my name in conversation. As you say, it feels patronizing, and to me it also feels fake and manipulative, especially in the context of customer support. It's interesting to me how much advice about communication involves using a person's name. Do most people like hearing their name dropped frequently in conversations with strangers or near-strangers? Or is this one of those weird unprov…

Using a name feels even more unnatural when done incorrectly. For example, I get this all the time: I would be happy to help you with this Mr. Nick I have no idea why this happens — are there countries in which people call each other "Mr. [first name]"?

This seems to be common in the Philippines, home to many call centers. Many Filipinos are also prone to overusing Sir, to the point that one person I worked with used to refer to my colleagues as Sir John, Sir Bob etc (and no, this was not tongue in cheek).

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#38

Post by mvaliente2001 »

gnicholas wrote: post #25
alleyshack wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely hate people using my name in conversation. As you say, it feels patronizing, and to me it also feels fake and manipulative, especially in the context of customer support. It's interesting to me how much advice about communication involves using a person's name. Do most people like hearing their name dropped frequently in conversations with strangers or near-strangers? Or is this one of those weird unprov…

Using a name feels even more unnatural when done incorrectly. For example, I get this all the time: I would be happy to help you with this Mr. Nick I have no idea why this happens — are there countries in which people call each other "Mr. [first name]"?

that's an option in Spanish.

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#39

Post by jpmoral »

jpatokal wrote: post #37
gnicholas wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using a name feels even more unnatural when done incorrectly. For example, I get this all the time: I would be happy to help you with this Mr. Nick I have no idea why this happens — are there countries in which people call each other "Mr. [first name]"?

This seems to be common in the Philippines, home to many call centers. Many Filipinos are also prone to overusing Sir, to the point that one person I worked with used to refer to my colleagues as Sir John, Sir Bob etc (and no, this was not tongue in cheek).

I'm from the Philippines. I can't say 'Mr. First Name' is common but I totally agree that 'Sir' is overused.

Re: Hone your tone of voice: A linguistic perspective on how to talk to customers

#40

Post by dsr_ »

joshvm wrote: post #34
nmstoker wrote: post #4

Interesting 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

I assume people do this as a result of Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People : > Remember that a person's name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language. This may have been sound advice in 1936, but maybe we've just changed socially? There's a subtlety here: people like it when you remember their names, but they find it creepy if you don't have an established relationship.…

In natural conversation in American English of the 21st century, people use a name only to get your attention or to refer to you when talking to another participant.

"Pat, good to see you. Have you met Sandy?"

"Charlie? Could you explain that bit again?"

Those are natural.

Unnatural:

"Well, Bob, I'm glad you asked." "Can I get you to sign today, Sandy?"

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