Customer service and sales: how to correct a crucial communication error

The walked into an office to purchase a service. The department manager, who was behind the computer in the office,  gave her a business card and said, "Email me with the details and I'll get back to you."

What happened? The prospective customer, who had been ready to buy, took the card and did not send the e-mail.

The office manager, who had the power to act immediately, was not pro-active. She did not take the prospective customer's name,  contact information,  and details, or give her the desired information on the spot. She sounded disinterested in having a prospective new customer. (If the problem was that she was busy, she did not bother to explain this.)

Instead, she expected the prospective customer to put forth more effort (by sending an e-mail) to request the service. She did not consider the number of competitors for that service that the customer passed regularly, or the other distractions competing for the person's attention. In other words, her reaction was all about her (the manager's) needs. It should have been about the customer's needs. The customer, internal or external, is the reason for the business.

This scenario also happens in another, more common, way. When a customer calls into an office, if he reaches the wrong person, that employee can either switch him to the correct person or can ask the customer to call back. The first way is pro-active, and shows great customer service. The second (reactive) way can lose a customer, or get him frustrated. How is this handled in your organization? Do all employees know how to locate the correct employee's name and phone extension, and do they get training in how to switch callers to the correct extension?

Internal customers also count; the work each employee does affects all of them in completing the finished product. (This would be a great topic to discuss when orienting new employees, or when doing the yearly talk on how the company is meeting its' goals,  to show the relationships between the various departments.)

Every customer interaction counts, and communication is vital to all of them. Make the internal or external customer feel wanted through efficient, pro-active communication and sales techniques!
Business Speech Improvement provides communication coaching and concise e-books. Check out your options now!

Do You Hear What I Hear? Analyzing Telephone Sales Communication

Do You Hear What I Hear? Analyzing Telephone Sales Communication

When you make a telephone call to a business, are you focusing only on the message?  Try also noticing how it is said, from the emotions to the clarity, as well as the sales techniques (if any). You'll get a lot more out of the experience.For example, if you are shopping for a product or service provided by various competitors, analyze each salesperson's performance after the call. Where you able to understand the name of the company and the person to whom you were talking, or was it spoken too fast? Did the person answer your questions clearly? Did he have all the information needed to easily access your account and information about the product or service?  How well were your objections, if any,  handled? If the salesperson realized you were probably not going to buy the product or service, did he proactively let you know that you would be welcome to return in the future?One big difference between a positive and a negative experience is sales and telephone skill training. Such training pays off - handsomely!

Business Speech Improvement can help with telephone assessments, calling  companies in the USA,  posing as a customer and analyzing the results. We also provide intensive training in American English pronunciation, general diction, executive communication skills, understanding non-native callers more easily on the telephone, and more! We even offer a no-cost e-newsletter with great communication tips; to subscribe, click here.

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Amazing customer service - restaurant style

Maggiano's Little Italy in Durham, NC is a little restaurant with a fascinating angle on customer service. They want to make their target customers (new customers and out-of-town visitors) feel very special. They do this in a way that can be (but rarely is) used by most businesses, especially those in the hospitality and other service industries.

I recently had dinner in this restaurant for the first time. The server casually asked my guest and me about ourselves, and any dietary needs. Upon learning that my guest was visiting from another state and that we had never been to the restaurant before, the server quietly swung into action. After we were served a delicious dinner, several members of the restaurant staff visited to welcome us, and we were offered a complimentary (and wonderful) mini-dessert for us to split.
The purpose of this extra attention was of course to make us feel like visiting royalty, and naturally want to return.

Basically, the approach of this restaurant boils down to three principles that can easily be used by other businesses. First, the first person who approaches the new customer is well-trained to ask a few casual questions to search for customers with specific characteristics. Second, there is a system to discretely alert other members of the staff, who also welcome the visitor. Third, the business provides complimentary samples of additional services or products to these visitors, as a tangible welcome.

Many businesses could also offer to put the visitor on their mailing lists, and send him or her coupons for special deals or freebies throughout the next year to entice him to return. Others such as hotels maintain a database of customers' preferences (whether for types of rooms, recreational activities if mentioned, or other issues), so that they can refer to it when the customer comes again.

What is a recent example of great customer service that you have experienced, and what could other businesses do to emulate it? If you own or manage a service business, what else could you do to welcome your new customers?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in communication skills. Training is offered through seminars, individual coaching and economical, practical e-books. One such e-book is Executive Communication Strategies, including tips you might wish your supervisor knew!

What is your outgoing voice message saying about you?

When a prospective customer, client, friend or someone else calls your business or personal phone, he may hear your outgoing voice message. What impressions are others getting of you after hearing this?

Today I called a luxury hotel and heard the outgoing message of the director of a department. The message was very fast and I had to listen very carefully to understand the person's pronunciation.
The message included the date the person recorded it, as in "Today is ____. I am in the office today." The problem was that the this was not the date I was calling on, so the message had not been updated.

The impression I got was of someone who speaks fast and may not pay attention to details, such as the date or his speech. I wondered if he would pay attention to his department's business details.

When recording an outgoing message, say your name slowly and carefully. Your prospective customer may be in a noisy setting, or may need to remember it so he can write it down. If you leave a telephone number on any phone message, say it only as fast as you can write it (in the air, if needed). Your listener may be writing it down - and if it is clear, he may only need to do it once. 

Put only the essential information in the outgoing message, so you have time to speak clearly.  If you record a new message daily, do that first thing in the morning. If you leave an outgoing message promising to return calls quickly, keep your promise!

If you have speech difficulties, get help for them, whether they are a strong accent, a communication impairment, or something else.  Your speech gives an image of you and your organization. Speech help these days can come in the form of individual or small group coaching, online coaching, an e-book, an mp3 file, or other options.

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive coaching, small group seminars and e-books on diction, accent modification, presentation skills, communication strategies for leadership development, and more! 

How's your small business outgoing voice-mail message?

Have you listened to your outgoing telephone message lately?
Was it very easy to understand, even for someone who is calling you for the first time?

I recently called a small business, and was appalled at the gruff, very deep tone of the message. It was almost impossible to understand, for a person who has normal hearing. For many customers who have hearing losses,it would not have been understandable. Prospective customers may easily have hung up. The culprit could well have been the recording equipment, or the person who recorded the message.

If you are recording an outgoing voice-mail message, say it slowly. This subconsciously cues those leaving a message to speak slowly themselves, which means you may understand them better. Speak enthusiastically, though, so people hear your enthusiasm!


Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training and e-books on many aspects of verbal communication, including diction and sales.

Speech rate and customer service training

An unfamiliar professional with a strong foreign accent recently called me. He spoke so quickly that his speech was very hard to understand. As a speech expert, I had to ask him to slow down and say each word clearly so I had any idea of why he was calling.

What can a person do to make his or her speech clearer? The first thing to do is to slow down your rate of speech. Simply speaking more slowly helps others understand you a little better. Certain groups of people understand speakers better when they speak more slowly.

To speak slower, remember what counts is what the listener understands, not how fast you can convey your message. After all, if you need to say it again, you have wasted time. If you really cannot slow down, get professional help from a corporate speech pathologist. There may be several reasons why some people cannot slow down on their own.

Second, say the final sounds in a phrase or sentence clearly. In the phrase, "It's the best!", pronounce the "t" correctly, as an example. If you use a script when speaking on the telephone, read it aloud for practice, saying the final sounds well.

Third, make sure you are pronouncing the longer words the way your listeners do, with stress on the correct syllable. Putting stress on the wrong syllable confuses listeners, and they need a few seconds to think about what was said. That means they miss the next comment you made.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal communication. Customized coaching and e-books are available!

"May I help you?" - do you care?

Today I listened to receptionists answer telephone calls for two businesses. Both had clearly been doing this all day, and may have been tired. Although they used basically the same words, one's tone of voice sounded like she clearly didn't care about the person at the other end. The other, although not enthusiastic, was more welcoming.

Tone of voice can make a difference between welcoming a prospective or current customer, and turning him or her away.
All it takes is a desire to welcome the customer and a little bit of both training and energy.

Sound like you care - every time. If you don't care, the customer may not share his time and business with you. After all, would you want to do business with a company whose first impression is of not caring?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, from diction and sales communication to American English pronunciation and more.

Corporate voice mail message services: causing customer frustration

You call a company, and are asked to say and spell your name, address or customer number so your information can be found before transferring you to a customer service employee. Despite ultra-clear pronunciation, the machine doesn't understand you - repeatedly. Sometimes you then give up, or try to get around the system by dialing another number. Sometimes, if you wait long enough, a customer service rep comes online - and then has to calm a customer who maybe wasn't frustrated before making the call! So why do companies use these systems if they cannot recognize most names and numbers?

How do you handle it when the machine doesn't understand you?
Tell us your strategies; let's start a discussion here!

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in diction, accent modification, presentation skills, sales communication, and much more!

Front line staff and your PR program

What are the first people prospective customers/clients/patients see doing to increase your organization's public relations?

In one healthcare organization I visited yesterday, the first employee I was directed to see appeared ironically to be very sick. When I asked her why she was at work, she told me that her department had let many employees go, and was very short-staffed. The next person I was sent to had her head down on the desk. When I expressed concern about her health, apparently conscious that everyone in a crowded waiting area could hear her, she self-consciously laughed and said she was mostly bored - despite the place being very busy. If this facility took such poor care of the front line employees, I wondered how they expected the employees to take exceptional care of their patients.

Regardless of your industry, how are you taking care of your front line employees? What are you doing to show them that you care about them? Are you teaching them the critical role they play in getting new customers or patients? Are you doing it with frequent spoken and written compliments, flowers, occasional free meals or gift cards, making sure they take time off when they need to, a career ladder to help them develop skills for other jobs, or some other method? Times are tough in many companies, but often without meaning to, front liners can derail your expensive public relations efforts.

Please let us know your company's efforts to make your front line team feel special!

Delegating: Is It Clear?

Delegating involves a lot of clear communication. An easy way to do this is to use the 5 W's and an H, as follows.
Who - Who is to be involved in the project and working specifically on this task?
What is each person's and team's role? What are the specifications of the project?
When is each team supposed to complete its' task and when should each check in with the coordinator or project manager?
Where is the work to be done? Where are the components of the project to be found, if online? Where are any other supplies located?
Why is the project important to the client and to the organization doing it?
How will everyone involved know of the progress and any complicating or new factors? Is there a location for this information online? Will there be regular in-person meetings or teleconferences?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, including a one-day seminar on Executive Communication:The Power to Lead.. Open enrollment seminars, individual coaching and tip-filled e-books are available on many topics, from accent modification and pronunciation to presentation skills and leadership training.

How to remember more of what you hear or see

The next time you sit in a boring presentation, lecture or meeting, try some of these techniques to help you get more out of the experience.

1. Repeat the fact in your mind. Imagine you are saying them.
2. Visualize the facts or situation. Pretend you see them on a movie or computer screen.
3. Ask yourself questions about the information. Think of ones that begin with "wh", such as who, what, when, etc.Try to answer them by the end of the talk.
4. Write out 5 important words used in the concept. Using the first letter of each word, come up with a sentence to help you remember them all.
5. If someone is trying to persuade the group, think about why this action is being recommended. Who or what benfits from this course of action?

Public Speaking and the Scary "Um"

As a speech coach, one of the most common questions I hear is
"How can I stop saying "um" when I speak?"

People say "um" for three main reasons. They are a lack of sufficient preparation, a lack of self-confidence, and a poor level of skill in public speaking in general.

To decrease the "um" factor, be very well-prepared. Know your topic thoroughly, learn your speech through key words (not memorization of the entire speech), and use a moment of silence in place of an "um". For more valuable tips on giving a presentation, get Public Speaking:You Can Do It!, an e-book. Individual coaching on public speaking in general or to prepare for a specific presentation is also available through Business Speech Improvement.

The customer experience: the crucial first impression

When a prospective customer or client contacts your company for the first time, does she or he get a positive impression, of a knowledgeable staff member or a voice mail system that is truly easy to navigate? Try calling yourself and having others call, and see how your system rates.

Today I contacted a company, and got a temporary receptionist. Everything I said had to be repeated several times so she could write it down. She could not give me any information I needed, and could not transfer me to someone else who was more knowledgeable. When I asked, she admitted she was a "fill-in".
If only the company knew what she was costing them in lost business and a terrible first impression!

How does your company rate in its' first impression to prospective customers?


Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, including sales communication and executive communication skills.

How to lose a customer without even trying

I walked into a service business to possibly buy something. The sales rep referred me to his colleague, who specializes in that service. The colleague was not available today, so the sales rep gave me her contact information so I could call her later.

His poor customer service skills most likely cost a sale for the business. The customer service rep should have taken my contact information and passed it on to the proper specialist, himself. In doing so, he would have shown more professionalism, the company would have had a better impression in my mind, and the right specialist would have had a chance at a sale.

As some sage said, take care of the (potential) customer, and the customer takes care of you!

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive training in verbal communication skills, including small talk skills and also sales communication. Great speech makes business sense!

A secret of employee retention - at no cost

A well-educated manager and single mother stopped before the displays of roses and other flowers right before Valentine's Day. She admired them and said sadly, "I wish someone would appreciate me!"

This woman works hard to make sure her employees and children feel appreciated. When was the last time her manager did the same for her?

Although Valentine's Day is about romance, everyone needs to be appreciated. Take time today or tomorrow to tell each employee (and colleague, if appropriate) one specific thing you appreciate about him or her. Maybe it's the fact that the employee reliably comes in early and makes coffee, or took time on her lunch hour to run an errand for the department. Maybe he corrected an overlooked error in your report, or did a rush job on that assignment. Whatever it is, make your praise specific, and frequent. Appreciated employees stay longer, and that's money in your bottom line. After all, wouldn't you like to feel appreciated by YOUR boss?

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive, targeted training in executive communication skills and other verbal communication skills. Check out the upcoming open enrollment seminars, individual coaching and e-books!

Sales Communication: Building Trust

A sage once said that a person doesn't care how much you know until he knows how much you care. A professional salesperson cares enough to do three things immediately to start the process of trust-building. First, he or she respects the prospect's time enough to ask a few questions about the product or service desired, to narrow down the options and make sure the prospect will be getting what he really wants or needs.
(Often prospects don't use the right terms or are unaware of crucial differences.)
Second, know your products or services well enough to know which will be the best for each customer - and if none of them are right, be knowledgeable and willing to direct them to a competitor. (You would want the competitor to do this for you.) Third,
do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it. For example, call the prospect when you say you will do this.The person may be awaiting your call then and not be able to talk with you later. These steps start the crucial trust-building process.

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) offers intensive, targeted training in verbal communicaiton skills through Open Enrollment group courses, individual speech coaching, and e-books. Great speech makes business sense!

Appropriate holiday greetings: What is your opinion?

In an interesting discussion recently, a woman (in the USA) commented on how uncomfortable she is when strangers wish her a merry Christmas. She is not Christian. She asked others how to reply so as not to offend those offering greetings.

How do you greet strangers at this time of year? If you are not Christian, how do you reply when others wish you a merry Christmas? What do you wish they would say instead?

Managers: How clear are your directions?

I recently witnessed a scene where a person was trying to give directions to a supervisee. The supervisor was vague, and each time the supervisee tried to follow the instructions carefully. After the fourth revision, with increasing details, of the instructions, the supervisee became obviously frustrated.

How are your instructions to others? Do you include the who, what, when, where, why and how, as well as other relevant details (brands, sizes, times, etc)? Do you plan for a "check in time", to follow up on progress made?

Reduce employee frustration - get all the details right the first time!

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive, customized training in executive communication skills, accent modification, listening skills and much more! E-books for "help in a hurry"© are also available onsite.

First Impressions and Your New Contractor

many companies know of the importance of first impressions for new employers and customers. Sometimes they forget to think about new contractors brought in to provide services.

Contractors often charge by the hour. Are paperwork packets, procedures and often people in place when the new contractor begins his job? If ID issued by the organization is needed, is that ready to be issued? What about a map of the facility, list of names and contact information for relevant people, safety or emergency procedures and other vital information?

For contractors, time is money. A disorganized customer can not only create a negative impression in the contractor's mind, he can also waste a lot of money.

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides training in executive communication skills and other verbal communication skills. Training is offered through individual and group coaching as well as concise and practical e-books on many aspects of communication.

What Does A Speech Coach Do and What Should I Look For In One?

Can you identify with any of these? All names and some details have been changed.

1. Li (not her real name) is a professional chemist with valued professional skills. However, despite speaking English, she has a lot of trouble being understood by her colleagues here. Her company hires a speech coach to teach her American English pronunciation.

2. Sue has a strong regional American accent. When she speaks to clients in another part of the country by telephone or in video-conferences, they focus on trying to understand her pronunciation and miss her message. Sue's boss calls for help for her.

3. Sara needs to improve her presentation skills to be able to keep her job. Her company course on presentation skills was very poor, and Sara wants one on one coaching.

4. Pablo is a leader, and he wants training in how to get more ideas from his team. He
also wants to be a more effective communicator with them. He wants executive communication coaching.

If one or more of those situations describes you, you want a speech coach who is a great communicator herself, who is experienced and is professionally trained. One example of such training is a master's in speech pathology with experience in the sub-specialty of corporate speech pathology. Such a coach has scientific background in anatomy and physiology of how we talk, as well as experience in applying this to the corporate environment. Ideally the person will have the initials CCC-SLP after his or her name.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, targeted coaching in verbal communication skills. Visit www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com for more details!