Why the right customer service voice matters

What is the right customer service voice, and is it really that important? To answer that two-part question, let’s first take a step back in time to 1967, when Albert Mehrabian came up with the
“7 percent–38 percent–55 percent” rule determining that communication is made up of three parts:

1. The actual words you use (7%)

2. The tone of delivery in your voice (38%)

3. The body language accompanying your words and voice (55%).

Merely using positive language in conversations (for example, ‘thank you’) has only a 7% impact on customers. To truly connect with your audience, you need to also incorporate positive tone of voice and body language. This is true for over the phone, in person or in writing.

Tone of voice definition

Tone of voice can mean a few different things, but it usually comes down to attitude – that is, the quality or feeling in your voice expressed by the words you are using.

For example, MailChimp offers an example of tone of voice as being distinct from
voice:

“There’s a difference between voice and tone. Look at it this way: you have the same voice all the time, but your tone changes. You might speak in one tone to your closest friends and family, and a different tone with your boss.”

Jay Ivey, an analyst at Software Advice, a company that evaluates customer service systems, says that customer service tone of voice over email, chat or any other textual content is conveyed solely through language – i.e. diction, syntax, words, punctuation in writing – not through the speaker’s tone of voice or body language.

Customers can be just as sensitive to attitudes conveyed in writing through words and textual communication channels as they would be to verbal ones. It’s important for your customer service staff to understand how subtle differences in words or punctuation can change the tone of their content, and how to decide which tone is best based on the listener’s emotional state and expectations.

What tone of voice should customer service use?

Choosing the right tone for your customer service staff is not a one-off task. Tone needs to constantly evolve to meet the needs of your varying customer base. Thankfully, a specific tone of voice to be used in writing can be adopted and adapted by an entire support staff. They’re often included in the company’s writing guidelines.

You need to encourage your customer service staff to learn to be empathetic to the needs of the customer. If they’re particularly annoyed about something and just want to see their problem solved, it’s not a good idea to joke, on the phone or in writing, about how ‘annoying it must be’ or how ‘that must do your head in’. Your customer is already irritated because of your company – don’t think about adding fuel to the fire.

On the other hand, if the customer is writing back in way that indicates they’re willing to play along, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of humour in your content (if used with discretion). It can lighten the mood and just might go viral.

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to tell what kind of tone your audience will prefer. Software Advice went ahead and researched what kind of tone people prefer in various support situations, which we’ve outlined below.

Note:

Software Advice’s research focused on email support, but could apply just as easily to other channels.

Customers prefer informal banter

Adopting a neutral tone is perhaps the safest method for customer service staff to engage customers, but sometimes it’s not what the doctor ordered.

In the first survey conducted by Software Advice, 65 percent of customers preferred their support staff to have a “casual” tone in the contents of their interactions.

Interestingly enough, the distribution was consistent across all age and gender demographics. No matter how young or old the customer was, they typically preferred a casual tone and style in writing.

Pro tip:

Be a human, not a robot. Whenever you’re communicating with a customer, loosen up a bit and use natural language in your writing. Think about the story and mood and feel and atmosphere you want to create in the dialogue. Contractions and exclamation points aren’t off limits, so don’t be afraid to add some character!

Context matters

Although customers generally prefer a more human friendly tone, each support interaction is different. Customer service staff must be able to assess the situation and any emotion at play, think about the right style of approach and react appropriately.

For example, according to Jay Ivey, customers are likely to interpret a casual attitude in a delicate situation as being insensitive, condescending or otherwise inappropriate. It just may not create the most productive mood.

An overwhelming majority of customers – 78% – would be dissatisfied if their request was denied using a casual tone. In contrast, if a request was granted in a formal tone, only 35% said it affected their satisfaction.

Pro tip:

Customer service staff must be careful when dealing with those who are angry or upset. No need to learn the hard way here about the power of emotion: those customers are, understandably, much more likely to be sensitive to the tone in the contents of the exchange. The best course of action is to keep the tone neutral and rely on other techniques to help defuse the situation and create a more productive mood. It’s OK if your customer service interaction winds up on Twitter – as long as the story being told is a happy one.

Colloquialisms are sometimes inappropriate

Casual banter can sometimes go too far. Yes, it’s a popular default style and it can make everyone feel at ease, especially if the speaker or writer representing your company is naturally funny.

In the last decade emoticons [ ;P ], emoji and colloquialisms [‘lol’] have become commonplace in the content of digital communication. They add some extra character to a sentence or a story, but is it something that every reader can appreciate?

Although 49% of customers didn’t consider any of the listed options as too casual, 35% felt that emoticons were too informal for customer services. Similarly, 26% said the same about colloquial words.

Jay Ivey does offer a caveat here. Unlike support emails, live chat is inherently more casual. The back-and-forth style of chat makes it easier to remember there’s a real human being with some personality on the other end. Sometimes, liberally using emoticons or colloquialisms in the contents of the chat might actually be appropriate, just so long as agents are conscientious of the reader’s needs on the other side.

Pro tip:

Read the situation. If the customer is using emoticons or colloquial language, feel free to respond in kind. Just don’t go overboard and treat it like a bad Twitter post.

You are all characters in a story here: staying alert to how the customer is feeling can help an agent with the right expression or word choice. A thoughtful approach to the content fueling these interactions can help ensure the message an agent communicates is well received, a key element in providing a great customer experience.