A recent post by Chris Garrett about tips for better Skype meetings had me ranting in the comments section about business calls. Enter David Airey, who suggested I blog about the topic, and…
Well, here we are. I could have ranted some more (at great length), but I decided to first blog about the benefits of finding your voice to provide better service to your clients. The rant will come tomorrow.
The Internet is a scary place. People may not be who they appear to be. They may be out to scam you and screw you of your money. The pro you contact might just be some amateur trying to fake it.
A voice helps create a bond of trust.
People need to know that who they think they’re dealing with is really who they’re think they’re dealing with (unless you’re Stephen King, in which case you can be Richard Bachman and that’s perfectly fine. All is forgiven.)
Verbal communication reassures people. It’s invaluable. With one phone call, people hear a human voice. They hear the accent, the laugh, the confidence, the smiles and the professionalism.
If you won’t communicate verbally, you send up red-flag warnings. In the blink of an eye, you set off people’s alarms. Suspicions burst into life.
If people can’t trust you, they sure as hell won’t do business with you.
We judge people all the time. I do it; you do it. Think about it. Who have you spoken to this week? What information did you assimilate from that conversation? What did your brain pick up based on tone of voice? How did you feel when the person answered your questions?
With one phone call, people know that you’re real. They listen carefully and take in all the verbal cues they can to judge whether you’re competent – or not. They may not even discuss business with you. They may just want to hear your confidence, how fast you respond, or whether your answers are clear and make sense.
So, where’s your voice?
It’s a good question, James.
Trust can certainly be built online, but there’s no denying the personal touch that a telephone call can bring. Of course face-to-face is the fastest way to build a relationship, but with today’s international business that’s not often possible.
I hope all’s well.
My voice is most definitely on Skype. Pay $25+ a month for phone service where I’m locked into my office or $5 a month for phone service I can use anywhere? Not a hard decision.
Skype should pay me for saying this, but they aren’t. I just wanted to share my positive experience with the service.
And, of course, to return to your original point, voice is essential for building trust.
I don’t talk to many people on the phone, but when I do, I use Skype. Good point, James.
Definitely good point. An example: I belong to an online critique group and have for five years. I met a woman there and considered her a friend, of sorts. But when we finally talked via phone, we really connected. My first thought was, “Oh, I like her voice!” and I think it really solidified our online friendship into something that was more tangible. I agree, talking by phone can make a business relationship more real.
There’s an obvious component here: it’s much easier to detect stress, prevarication, hesitation, uncertainty and so on from verbal clues. Of course its even better if we are face to face, but you can get a pretty good read on most people from verbal interaction.
Before I got into this business I wasn’t much of a phone person. I’m still not. James will tell you it took me forever to call him more than once every couple of months.
And then I discovered Vonage.
Part of the phone issue was money. Whether you use a land line or cell phone, calls get costly and why should I call when I had IM? Then a friend of mine turned me on to Vonage and now I wouldn’t be surprised if James gets annoyed with me calling so much.
I didn’t want to use Skype, there’s just something about it that makes me hesitant. Maybe it’s the set up, I don’t know. Vonage had a great deal with anywhere in the US or Canada free. And should I ever have to call China it would only cost me some outrageously low rate. I also like the fact that I can pay for service a year in advance. BIG plus with me. I like paying a bill once a year and not having to worry about it for 12 months.
Harry,
I considered them too when looking at VOIP options, but have to confess I’m a little nervous about the predictions that the company is going bankrupt. True, they’re just predictions at the moment, but I worry. (Here’s hoping they stay in business and provide some competition for Skype!)
@Rachel: NO! Say it isn’t so! Let’s hope they stay predictions and their psychic friends aren’t all that gifted.
Brad’s Reader has an interesting post up today about faking it.
I agree that it’s probably easier for most people to make a call on trustworthiness if they can hear a person’s voice. As for me, my intuition is pretty sharp, so I can usually make a pretty good estimate through e-mail. In fact, I’ve started making a little game out guessing whether clients will accept quotes, or when their payment will come in. My accuracy has been pretty good so far.
On the flip side, one of the reasons I never refuse a request to speak via phone is because I want to provide my clients with every opportunity possible to find out what kind of business person I am. Many folks are comforted by the sound of a voice, which in many ways is second only to an in-person meeting — often not possible with the globalization that the business world has reached.
This really gets, me, too. I just had a birthday (the first of many 39th birthdays, maybe…) so I could be accused of being around a while, but remember when customers would freak out if they knew you worked from home?
Now we conduct so much business online that not only the visual, but the voice, too, is going away for some. While this has many global benefits, as one who still does a lot of local work I wonder if many opportunities in our own backyards are being missed? No office, not even any face-to-face meetings, and surprise! no respect for your hours of operation. Globalization can also be dehumanizing.
There are so many tech-resistant folks out there who still need the services of the techy-er among us. For some, even a speakerphone erodes trust. (Don’t you care about this call enough to hold a receiver?)
Using Skype may seem as though it’s only a psychological barrier, but isn’t any barrier between you and paying client a problem?
Creating a comfort zone is always the hallmark for great Customer Experience. If it works for you and for the client, great. There are lots of clients who are completely comfortable with any level of technology.
I think there’s a lot of growth available for companies who step back from the technology, where possible, and get back to service with a smile. Or at least with a smile in your voice.
James has seen this one: Here’s another post about dialing down the tech.
Regards,
Kelly
@Kelly: Funny, I thought I was the only one with an unlimited amount of 39th birthdays…Yeah, I remember when working from home was taboo, I also remember when the corporate bosses used to hate that too. It’s good to remember the business that might be lurking in our own back yards, but when you live in a big city like I do, most of that work is tapped out to begin with. In some ways it’s good that James still lives in an area where the internet still isn’t used as much as it is down here. He’s already scouting out possibilities in his own community.
You are correct though, if the medium of choice works for you and your client, stick with it.
Harry,
Stand back. I’m just gettin’ started with the 39s.
I’m in the metro Philadelphia area. I find that there’s an under-served market here too, people who don’t understand or like the “push” of some firms. Creating more understanding and trying to be a “pull” works wonders.
Gentleness helps for newbies to any message, whether it’s technology in general or (ahem) Experience Design, but maybe more to James’ point, gentility is fast going out of style and that really is a problem.
I’m looking for a backlash, not from older folks, but from hyperconnected twentysomethings who may wake up and realize the world is going past them.
Regards,
Kelly
Wow, lots of comments here – thanks, everyone!
@ Kelly – Good point. I think many people are reeling from all the changes going on and the lack of help to adjust. “Here’s your new technology,” SHOVE, “Deal with it!”
Um, no. These people are resentful and don’t want the new technology. They resent having to change, and the force of the push. Whatever happened to hand-holding and gentle leading?
Oh, and I HATE Skype. But I jumped through hoops to install it, buy a microphone (a challenge where I live), install that, and get it to work (f**king computer), because that’s how the client wanted to communicate. Yes, sir!
@ Melissa – People use the phone to reassure themselves that you’re real, human and are competent. They also use the phone to make sure that you’re not some wizened old man sitting in a hermit cave and about to scam the hell out of the caller.
@ Anthony – Yep. People fill in the blanks of what they can’t see online. You can tell a lot by someone’s voice.
@ Christie – It’s amazing how quickly someone’s voice can change a relationship.
@ Rachel – Wow. Cheap phone, so you get bonus points!
@ David – Between the daily newcomers online and the old pros who know what the Internet really is, I think that makes a huge amount of people looking for someone to trust.
Hope I got everyone – thanks for commenting!