5 Speech Qualities & Habits Contact Center Callers Should Never Hear

There may be jobs where excellent speech qualities & habits aren’t crucial. Working as a Customer Service Representative (CSR) in a Contact Center isn’t one of them.

Competence speaking business English should be a “Must Have” hiring requirement for CSR jobs. For too many Call Centers it’s not.

Just ask your friends & neighbors. Many will tell you of recently dialing into a Contact Center – only to have a hard time understanding (or believing) what the CSR they were connected to was saying.

Year after year – when it comes to describing their experiences dealing with a company’s Call Center – this lack of Business English language communication ability is a top customer complaint.

The CSR Is Brand Ambassador To Your Customers. The Human Voice Of The CSR Provides Your Brand’s Human Face – And Delivers The ‘Soft Skills’ That Add Value When It Comes To The Kind Of Service Callers Demand – And The Kind Of Performance Your Business Requires.

The CSR’s voice makes an immediate & lasting impression that can portray your Brand as either:

• Friendly or Impersonal
• Confident or Timid
• Warm or Impatient
• Relaxed or Nervous
• Knowledgeable or Scripted

The speech qualities & habits of your CSR’s voice are its most distinctive and individual characteristics.

Effective communication is based on trust – and this is where the warmth / understanding / rapport / “likability” projected by your CSR’s voice come into play.

Tone of voice – and the emotional content of the words used by the CSR – can help to define closer feelings and a stronger bond of involvement with both customers & sales prospects.

A Recent Duke University Study Of Consumers – Ranking Their Satisfaction With CSRs – Found That They Rated Their Like/Dislike Of A Call Center Experience 81% On The Basis Of ‘Vocal Liking’ (how the CSR sounded) – And Only 19% On The Basis Of ‘Verbal Liking’ (what the CSR actually said to them).

Your customers want to interact with CSRs who sound natural – relaxed – comfortable – knowledgeable – and confident in their communications.

The speech qualities & habits of your CSRs can help to represent your Brand with greater professionalism – poise – and “believability”.

Here are 5 speech qualities & habits Contact Center callers should never hear:

‘Vocal Fry’

’Vocal Fry’ – inspired by “quirky girl” Hollywood stars like Zooey Deschanel – and pop stars / celebrities such as Britney Spears / Ke$ha / Kim Kardashian – is a term used to describe very low frequency voicing – that sounds creaky / rough / guttural.

A recent study from the Public Library of Science Journal included a figure showing the waveform of ‘Vocal Fry’ – with the voice buzzing in the lower registers – when the vocal folds in the throat vibrate irregularly with ‘popping croakiness’ (see circled area in image above).

In effect  – the speaker uses a lower register than they would naturally – causing the vocal chords to vibrate more slowly – and at the same time often drawing out their words as they croak.

This ‘popping croakiness’ drawn out style of speech doesn’t make a good impression on callers – who rate CSRs who speak to them in this way as “annoying” / “scratchy” / “disinterested” / “sexist” / “unprofessional”.

Compared to a normal speaking voice – CSR voices exhibiting ‘Vocal Fry’ are perceived by callers as “less competent” – “less educated” – “less trustworthy” – and “less likable”.

Although Zooey Deschanel / Britney Spears / Ke$ha / Kim Kardashian are all examples of extremely successful women – their style of speaking doesn’t exactly scream ‘professionalism’ – and this strained or breathy way of speaking is perceived negatively by listeners in a customer care context – and diminishes the impact & effectiveness of what the CSR is saying.

‘ValSpeak’ / ‘Up Talking’

‘Valley Girl Speak’ or ‘ValSpeak’ originated during the 1980s/90s in the San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles – and has become part of the Southern California English dialect.

‘ValSpeak’ is characterized by the use of ‘Up Talking’.

Due to its place at the center of the entertainment industry – Hollywood in Los Angeles is one of the main sources worldwide for cultural & youth trends – including those of language.

Elements of ‘ValSpeak’ / ‘Up Talking’ have been featured in many movies & TV shows – and have been adopted as a vocal trend across the USA & around the world.

‘Up Talking’ is when an individual’s phrases & sentences – pitch & speech pattern – habitually increase at the end of a sentence – even though they’re not asking a question – and most every phrase ends like it is a question.

‘ValSpeak’ / ‘Up Talking’ cuts across ethnicity – and has created a younger generation – many of whom talk mainly in questions – with a rising intonation & upward inflection – making much of what they say sound nearly like a question – but not quite.

In one recent study of 700 male & female customers calling into Contact Centers – 85% viewed ‘ValSpeak’ / ‘Up Talking’ as an indicator that the CSR didn’t know what they were talking about – since statements are transformed by this speech pattern into what sounds like questions.

70% found ‘ValSpeak’ / ‘Up Talking’ annoying.

57% rated the CSR as “unfit for any position that pays more than minimum wage”.

CSRs using ‘ValSpeak’ / ‘Up Talking’ were rated by customers as “sounding less intelligent” – “appearing less professional” – "having inferior speech patterns” – “insecure” – “emotional” – “in constant need of confirmation” – and “seeming like a nitwit or airhead”.

‘ValSpeak’ / ‘Up Talking’ in the Call Center hurts your Brand’s credibility – and portrays CSRs as sounding unsure – insecure – immature – and “lower class” to customers.

’Fast Talkers’

A supersonic style of speaking may be appropriate for auctioneers – but not for Customer Service & Support or TeleSales.

A recent study from researchers at Missouri State University found that the rapid speech of ‘Fast Talkers’ is a communications liability in the Call Center.

One of the most detrimental aspects of ‘Fast Talkers’ is that it can create a bad impression.

If a CSR is explaining something to a customer – or trying to influence a sales prospect – speaking too fast can cause confusion.

Much of what ‘Fast Talkers’ say is incomprehensible speech to the average listener – and that results in a high need for the CSR to repeat themselves to confused people.

And if people are confused – they probably won't buy the message.

Speaking too fast can make what the CSR is saying appear "salesy" – as though the CSR is trying to sell something – rather than imparting expertise or knowledge to help someone make a decision. No one likes to feel that they're being sold to.

‘Fast Talkers’ are also perceived by listeners as “impatient” – “aggressive” – “lacking in empathy”. As someone just trying to get a transaction over with as quickly as possible without regard for the other person.

Another detrimental aspect of speaking too fast is that it causes people to tune the CSR out.

‘Fast Talkers’ typically have a lack of clear enunciation – articulation – and engaging tone – which prevents their message from taking hold in the listener's mind.

Customers & sales prospects may hear a blur of CSR words – but they usually end up misunderstanding the full message.

When a CSR talks too fast it can also be taken as a sign of stress / anxiety / nervousness / a lack of confidence – and being in a rush. ‘Fast Talkers’ may be perceived as not knowing what they’re talking about.

Customers rate CSRs who are ‘Fast Talkers’ as “dishonest” – “overly controlling” – and “self centered” – rather than “client focused”.

Bad Grammar & ‘Filler Words’

There’s been lots of research showing that overusing ‘Filler Words’ & Bad Grammar creates a negative perception of the speaker – and gives listeners multiple opportunities to tune out.

The over use of Bad Grammar such as: “you know” – “like” – “sweet” – “totally” – and “awesome” – or “Filler Words” such as: "um" – “uh” – and “er” – all project hesitation – and a lack of confidence on the part of the CSR – and this can irritate callers (particularly older ones).

‘Filler Words’ & Bad Grammar get in the way of really clear & effective communications – undermining credibility – making the CSR appear distracted & nervous – and sounding less polished / poised / professional.

‘Low Talker’

When people are tired or upset (or lack assertiveness) their voices tend to fade – and they will be asked to "speak up". CSRs need to speak loud enough to be heard – but not so loud that they sound overly aggressive or forceful.

What ‘Low Talkers’ convey to callers is that they aren’t very confident in what they’re saying – and just like with ‘Fast Talkers’ – this has the potential to lose the attention of customers & sales prospects.

Callers rate CSRs who are ‘Low Talkers’ as “passive” & “lacking self confidence”.

Trust & Credibility Are Gained Or Lost Within Seven Seconds Over The Phone.

The price of poor speech qualities & habits is high in Contact Centers – and can leave the impression that your CSRs are sloppy – careless – unprofessional – lack knowledge – or are just plain stupid.

It’s very important to hire CSRs with pleasant & clear speaking voices who communicate confidently & professionally – who are easily understood – and who don’t sound like ‘script readers’.

If your hiring process can’t identify the applicants who can “Talk the Talk” of Customer Care and/or TeleSales – then you’re putting Customer Experience (CX) / Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) / Brand Reputation / Productivity / Sales Results at risk.

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