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How Good Is Your Phone Voice And Personality? Use A Professional That Has IT, Whatever IT Is

I once had a sales job where the boss would record you on a random sales call (I Hated That!). The customer would pepper you with questions about the product and services you offered. That was bad enough, but listening to it? UGH! I spoke in a monotone manner and waaaay to fast. I also had an accent that was a cross between Chicago & New York City, what a combination...

I am NOT a good phone voice for initially calling leads. I know it and I live with it. One of our co-brokers does NOT call leads, he has a woman with real estate experience do it for him. She is exceptional at breaking the barrier of initial contact. Jodi calls some of our leads, some folks just have a knack for clients taking to them over the phone. I am not sure what IT is, but I know I do not have it.

The point is you invest all this time and money to create a possible connection with someone, give yourself the best opportunity to create a relationship between you and them. E-mails are easy, you make a mistake and it is easily corrected before you send it, now THAT I can do. I do well on the phone after someone else has established contact, at that point it is questions and answers time.

Am I being to hard on myself? Nope, I just seem to come off as a salesman on the phone. I would not want an initial call from me. Record yourself on a phone call, it can be quite the reality check. As for me, I'm leaving it to the pro's, now if I can only figure out what IT is!!!

Posted by Frank & Jodi Orlando on 12/26/2008 11:28 AM

Comments (46)

how good is your phone voice and personality use a professional that has it, whatever it is

46 Comments on How Good Is Your Phone Voice And Personality? Use A Professional That Has IT, Whatever IT Is

DEC

I've noticed that I say Ummm A LOT when leaving messages for clients..I hate it, it sounds so unprofessional ....but I'm working on it..

Tara, There are so many idiosyncrasies we use and are not aware of. Fortunately when leaving a message you have the option to review and change...

I don't like sales call to my home. I am awful at it and know it. So for these two reasons I don't make cold calls. I do other things that I'm comfortable with and fix my style.

Interesting...to be honest I'm not sure how I sound on the phone. I know that I must sound younger than I am because people often think I'm my college age daughter when I answer. I KNOW it's Southern that's for sure! Like everyone I want to THINK it's professional but you never really know until you hear for yourself do you?

Just another way to critique and improve...Thank you!

Mark, UGH, no cold calls for us, the odds are so terribly tilted. Our calls are to clients who give legitimate names and numbers at our websites. I know how you feel about your phone voice...

Kathy, I'll bet your phone personality is pretty good. It must be if folks are asking questions about you!

I find that if I get a person on the phone I do very well however I hate leaving messages on a machine and will usually sound corny... I get tongue tied I think!!!

Diane, I think you are in a minority here. Not many people believe they do well on the phone, you must be pretty good!!

Yes, hearing your voice from a recording is strange. An easy way to check it out is on the message you record for your answering machine.

I also need reminders to "put on my cheery voice" when answering the phone.

Interesting post. The agents I know that do a lot of calling practice scripts and dialogues in front of a mirror and become comfortable and confident in the way they say things. I think anyone can improve their phone voice. Sometimes I think what is said is more important than the actual voice, but the two go hand in hand.

Great post and something that has concerned me for a while. I too am not a very good out of the box presence at first on the phone. But, I'm working on it.

One of the things call center folks are encouraged to have is a mirror ---- because when you're talking, your voice reflects your mood. So they are encouraged to look at the mirror, smile, and that smile comes through on the phone.

I also have an accent, and it's always a good idea to slow down and enunciate.

And...when leaving a message, it is so important to speak clearly and slowly, especially when leaving a phone number to call back. I hate it when peole speed up when leaving their phone number and I have to keep replaying the message until I get all the numbers written down.

Joan, I guess attitude is a big part of call. Guess I should smile more when I'm talking.

Dan & Amy, I know we all are our own worst critic, I LOATHE hearing my voice in a phone recording. Scripts are great practice, but do you then sound canned?

Gabe, At least you are trying, real estate is no longer a client walking into a sales office. It's phone & E-mails.

Pacita, You are correct, if I could smile and slow down I would improve. Problem is, I always start speeding up again!

I pay attention to all that and as a born in NJ kid, I decided early that the NJ/NY accent was not for me.

Can IT be learned? IF someone REALLY wanted to? I'm not so sure...

BTW, Tara, our President Elect says UMMM, ummm, ummm all the time when he addresses the media...didn't seem to hurt him!

Michael, There probably is not a more recognizable accent than folks from your area. If you did not acquire it, that is truly remarkable!

Ron, I'm just not able to learn "it". As for the president, I'll cut him some slack, he has a lot more riding on every single word...

Sometimes I think my Spanish is a little off. I try my best and hope that they understand what I mean.

I think everyone hates the sound of their own voice on a recording. Don't be so hard on yourself. I make a rule to only make calls when I am in a good mood and in the right frame of mind. Also, the smile thing really is helpful. I bet you are not as bad as you think.

Speach patterns and speaking habits can be learned. Having grown up in primarily in the south and worked a little in radio, a little voice over advertising and am news, and just being in sales in general, I do not have a dscernable accent. However, my day to day voice is very soft and I have to think about modulation on the phone and when in speaking in public. If it's important it can be done. Is it necessary, I'm not really sure. I think ease of speaking to leads and prospects is a separat skill set and has little to do with vocal skills and more to do with personality.

Angelia, I think if you are bilingual you receive an automatic pass!

Kristi, There is just a sharp quality to my voice, combine that with a somewhat aggressive nature and it can be a bit over the top.

Cat, I am a Northerner in the South. The first time I said y'all, a older Southern gentleman said "don't say that, it hurts my ears" Lol. My Northern accent is actually worse now from NOT trying to pick up a Southern one.

You can definitely learn good phone voice skills. Speakers, radio show hosts and others using public forums spend millions annually on voice shaping, quality control, pacing, etc.

The best way to start is to just record yourself reading a passage from a book. Use your computer and a headset. Make the passage easy - don't choose War and Peace - and read it three times in a row. Then play them back.

You should listen for things like pace, inflection, merged-words, tone, peaks/valleys, etc.

As a former talk show host for years, my producer made me listen to 20 minutes of my program EVERY NIGHT after the show. I quickly started to become aware of my voice in everyday converstion, especially accents and filler-sounds. And every day I was able to make small improvements.

How we sound on the phone when answering or making outgoing calls is very important because it's the MAJORITY of the message to the person on the other line. And if you're worried about how YOU sound, try calling your own office and see how the OFFICE STAFF are greeting and communicating with your clients and prospects. You may be surprised!

Matthew, Sounds as though you have this phone voice thing down cold. Agreed, in today's Real Estate market you had BETTER be somewhat cheery, articulate, well paced, and knowledgeable. You only get one chance. I'm going to take some of your recommendations and work with them. Appreciate the advice...

I hate my phone voice, but once I get past the introductions I feel I can get conversational with them. The trick is getting thee past those difficult one word answerers. As for e-mail being easy, be careful there, there is a definite tone in e-mail, and it could come out more in e-mails after you have been corresponding for a while. Some times that straight-to-the-point letter can come off as overly curt.

Good Post.

Mike Nastri

The phone voice I think comes with practice and a state of mind. I listen to a lot of speakers and try to mimic their delivery and pace they speak at. I think this helps to get over the initial hurdle of not knowing what to say and how to say it.

I can have major call reluctance---interesting to read about having someone else do the initial call for you. I think I'd like that idea.

It's funny. I hate the way my voice sounds, it sounds very different in my head as opposed to what comes out. I think I'm pretty good though because I say the right things.

I must have a good phone voice because it seems once I talk to them I have them. It comes from years and years with phone communications. I once was suppose to train someone how to do it and I was clueless on what to tell them. When I started thinking about it, really all you have to do is be friendly and I usually try to find some common ground with them right away. Get them talking about themselves. If I hear a baby in the back ground I may ask about that. Sometimes I may tell them a story of what I was doing at the moment. Sometimes its as simple as "when you called I was under my desk looking for a pen and I whacked my head getting up" It give them a chance to laugh at you and break the ice.

Mike, I believe you are referring to a client we call "the clam". They don't say anything, and they can start you fumbling for words. I'm lucky about the E-mails, Jodi does them!

Morgan, Pretty smart mimicking the pro's. Sounds as though you are also confident in your ability.

Diane, Some folks do not even have to study the skill, it's like that person in a conversation you just can't stop listening to.

Mike, You would KNOW if your phone skills were in trouble. Folks would be inventing things to get off the phone.

Tami, Lets face it you're a natural! You've got IT!

I don't like my voice much on the phone or recorded... I am a native finnish speaker and still have a slight accent. Some think it is adorable and love it, a few think it is "heavy" accent LOL. I also naturally speak fast and constantly remind myself to slow down,then again some think speaking fast is ok, as my speach reflects the excitement and passion... anyway long story short... Brian is awesome on the phone, so he calls our leads and is the one to answer the phone. Our office line also has a professional voice over person so it sounds really good. ~Rita

Brian & Rita, First off, I do not know what a Finnish accent sounds like. I am sure it is interesting and perhaps in that case a good thing. You have the same malady I have, I start getting excited and the words just come out way to fast. Maybe it is not as bad a thing as we think....

Frank - I have a phone phobia. I am trying to not think too much that I am on the phone when I talk to new leads. I think if you ask 10 people, 10 people will have 10 different answers for you. I think that IT will have to come from your heart.

I am getting ready to publish a blog about this issue next week and it defines my IT. I hope one day you would too!

I enjoy the phone, My first broker was a fanatic about using the phone. I canvass for 2 to 3 hours a day four days a week. I plan on making a game of it in 09 maybe have a pizza party one day a week and whoever gets the least leads will pay for it.

Loreena, Let me know when you publish, would love to read IT. Yes, it is from the heart, and we can all speak from it, but why are some folks just so much more successful at IT?

Charles, Now THAT is a cool idea. In the game of self employed real estate agents you SHOULD reward yourself for a job well done!

Some people are better on the phone that others -- just like other skill sets -- we are all better at different things.

Frank and Jodi: This is a very intersting topic. I have not really given this much thought.

Bob & Caroline, I'm with you, I am an absolute wonder at SEO, I always thought I was pretty good on the phone, and then, I heard myself, YIKES.

Roland, In this day and age you must investigate your phone skills, it is now the primary form of first contact.

DEC

My partner (and sister) has the BEST phone voice. Always so happy and cheery and always laughing. I don't think I'm terrible at it, but I do have phone call reluctance. Interesting blog topic...now I'll be forced to think of this the next time I make a call. Happy Holidays!

Kim, You hit on a point I missed, RELUCTANCE. I wonder if that has an effect on your phone voice. You are lucky to have a partner who is a family member that has IT.

Frank - great post - this is often our first point of contact with a prospect/client and how we come off on the phone is very important. I know when I get someone on the phone - I stand up, and will come back and write down notes.

Sharon, It is funny that we put all our time and resources just to have the opportunity to speak with a potential client. Yet we spend so little time on phone skills, you are right standing and smiling can make a difference...

The most simplistic technique for the worst of the worst is to stand up and pace the floor while talking. It is amazing the difference it creates in voice inflection and attitude. This is nothing new, but most don't do it. You look like a nerd, but it works. Obviously scripts are great, but the presentation is everything.

Pace....

Tim, Thanks, I'll try that. I'd stand on my head if it got better results! I really do not like canned scripts, I recognize them immediately when a telemarketer calls...

I would equate IT to singing. Some people have IT some people do not.

You may consider some type of coaching. Try your local community college...maybe you could hire a tutor.

Chuck, I was a lead singer for about 17 years, and that at the time was my only occupation. I was GOOD at it. But alas, did not relate to phone skills.

DEC

Frank - I'm pretty comfortable on the phone. Especially if I'm answering phones(like a floor call). Although I haven't had too much success converting most of those calls into clients. I've had a few successes. I've gotten a few to give me there info so I can stay in touch. I provide them the info and ask them questions about how long they have been looking, etc. and then try to offer them some useful information (listings that fit what they are looking for etc.). I too have terrible phone phobia(like Loreena) if I'm calling someone. But I just have that phobia when I meet a stranger in general when it has to do with real estate. Put me in a room of strangers at a business networking event or a party and my true extrovert side shines right through and the conversation of real estate naturally comes up.

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