Does tone and pitch of voice help reps get through gatekeepers?

It is amazing how the opening of the call will set the tone for the interaction - just like an in-person exchange, or via social media, as Michael mentions.

Ben, your female reps are talking among themselves and finding something they think is a reason for their lack of success. Barring an extremely irritating voice, talking too slowly or too quickly, there is no reason for them to not be as successful as your male reps.

I like the way your male rep you mentioned tried a lower tone for more success. That is the ticket - everyone on your team needs to be able to change things up a bit - to see whether they improve their results. I'd suggest they record what they normally say to their iPhone or recording device and listen not just for how they are saying things, but what they are saying to resonate with that screener - the content piece.

Just think - if someone calls you to address an issue you've been having - would you care much about what they sound like or would you care more about what they had to say? That doesn't mean they should not try different things with their delivery - because as Kathleen mentioned - WHAT you say is a percentage of the whole package.

I've worked with reps who stand when they talk on the phone, or they put one foot firmer onto the floor for a more powerful voice.

The last point is that they need to sound friendly, pleasant, energetic and personalized to that call. If they call me and I feel like I'm just call number 25 of the morning, I'll react differently if I can't tell they are an inside sales rep.

Keep encouraging them to tweak their formula for success - it works.

I think tone and pitch will help anyone be effective over the phone but won't get you through a Gatekeeper! They need your respect, recognition that they do not have an easy job to do and your appreciation that they do have a job to do.

Conversely, a receptionist has about an 80% tone need to convey her company in a good, confident, trustworthy manner, words account for a mere 20%. Not what you say but how you say it. No singing aloud when you answer, please!

Interesting question Ben. Getting through gatekeepers is an age-old debate right? Here's my recommendation:

1. Hire people who sound pleasant and professional over the phone to begin with! Trying to adjust somebody's voice tone/pitch after the fact is a difficult proposition. Do role-play exercises DURING the interview process to hear how they ALREADY deal with gatekeepers! Past performance is indicative of future results.
2. As Kathleen notes above, treat gatekeepers with respect and give them a script to use that helps them show that respect. I'm a big fan of the "please, please script" that I adapted from Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales himself. It includes many please references and also includes instructional statements. It goes like this:

AE: Hello, could you please connect me with Jane Smith please?

Gatekeeper: May I tell him who is calling? (side note: you saw this question coming from the gatekeeper right?)

AE: Yes please. Please tell her (AE First Name and Last Name) with Company Name is holding please.

Gatekeeper: May I tell her what this is about? (side note: you saw this one coming too right?)

AE: Yes, please tell her it’s regarding her (fill in the blank with your simple explanation of your services/product), please. I’ll hold while you put me through please. (side note: we're using an instructional statement "I'll hold while you put me through please.")

Use this script above and I'm confident you'll see an increase in your team ability to get through gatekeepers.

I think trying to turn your team into voice-over experts is a tough proposition. Hire people that already sound pleasant and professional.

Finally, make sure you keep the end in mind. What's the most important metric for your team? Revenue? Qualified Leads Generated? New Accounts? Appointments? I don't care how many gatekeepers my salespeople get through, I care how much revenue they generate.

I have found that it's all about the approach. Treat gatekeepers with respect and as the best person who can help you. Don't only ask if your prospect is available, but ask if they are the best person to speak with regarding XYZ. The gatekeeper will appreciate this knowing that you don't only want to get past them, but want to A) ensure that you aren't wasting anyone's time and B) leverage their expertise on the company to get you in the right direction.

Also, I find that the more casual I keep it with the gatekeeper, the better their response. Unless they ask, I don't believe there is anyneed for official introductions. That will immediately label you as a sales person. Of course, introducing yourself and your company is necessary with your prospect.

Having been the gatekeeper myself for a number of years, I would say that the please, please and instruction tactic that Kevin mentioned typically works well. As the gatekeeper you find it difficult to argue with someone so nice. Additionally, the caller has left you with no real options.

I am back again! it is tone and content. The order of words that someone uses if they have a voice that sounds 'girly' might well make a different.

If they hear the gatekeepers name they should use it to help them embrace the person. How they use it is also strategic.

From recent experience with a busy gatekeeper they must respect the person is busy and be confident and clear about what they want.

This information is all useful and all part of the job of a good telephone associate but your first paragraph says it all...you must interview by phone. I know huge call centers in Tampa Bay who hire frequently and it is all about an on-line test and 5 mninute face to face interview without a phone interview. The mind boggles. The importance some businesses place on the quality of the people who represent them over the phone has diminished so keep up the good work, David.

Thanks for your positive feedback Kathleen – and I strongly agree with your statement: “The importance some businesses place on the quality of the people who represent them over the phone has diminished.”

If you want to quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively hire Top Performing Inside Sales Agents – those who will meet or exceed your expectations – those who have the Personality/Job-Fit/Temperament Factors for the job – and the ‘Telephone Personality’, Intellect & ‘Verbal Artistry’ to motivate gatekeepers/prospects/decision makers to action over the phone – follow these steps:

1. Stop asking for Resumes up-front and instead start conducting ‘Voice Auditions’ with your Candidates. Regardless of what’s written in someone’s Resume – you need to ensure that a Candidate has the right ‘Telephone Personality’ for your Company & Brand. It’s very important that you hire Inside Sales Agents with a pleasant, clear speaking voice (power, pitch, pace and pause). Your prospects & customers want to speak with Inside Sales Agents who communicate professionally –who are easily understood - and who don’t sound like ‘script readers’. It’s only after a Candidate passes their ‘Voice Audition’ that you should ask for a Resume.

2. Administer Skills Testing to your Candidates. You need to ensure that a Candidate can demonstrate a minimum acceptable level of proficiency in specific areas such as: Names, Spelling, Comprehension, Typing Speed & Accuracy, Grammar, Audio Transcription & Data Entry Skills. But keep in mind that a Skills Test Pass Rate only increases the likelihood of predicting the long-term effectiveness of a Candidate for an Inside Sales Agent position to 53% - and that’s just a bit better than flipping a coin!

3. Administer a Personality/Job-Fit Assessment to your Candidates. Personality/Job-Fit Assessments are best at forecasting the future success of a Job Candidate for an Inside Sales Agent position. Candidates for Inside Sales jobs need to have a unique constellation of Traits - and specific amounts of those Traits - in order to successfully complete the Job Requirements. An Inside Sales Agent’s long-term success depends much more upon Temperament/Personality/Job-Fit Factors than on Product Knowledge, Past Experience or Skill Set.

A Study on “The Comparative Validities of a Variety of Predictors of Hourly Wage Jobs in Reducing Turnover in New Hires” uncovered the following Results:

1. Interviews are a subjective and potentially biased process. Regardless of an Interviewer’s Skill – or a Candidate’s ability to present well – an Offer of Employment based on a strong interview alone only has a 14% chance of predicting the long-term success of a Candidate for an Inside Sales job.

2. Adding Reference Checking only increases the likelihood of predicting long-term success in a Candidate for an Inside Sales job to 26%. And we all know that it’s getting harder to perform meaningful & insightful Reference Checks.

3. Job Previews - via software-based call simulators - or Role Play - only increases the likelihood of predicting long-term success in a Candidate for an Inside Sales job to 44%.

4. Skills Tests such as Typing Tests, Audio Transcription Tests, Windows Literacy Tests, etc. only increase the likelihood of predicting long-term success in a Candidate for an Inside Sales job to 53%.

5. With an 80% Predictive Ability, Personality/Job-Fit Assessments are best at forecasting future success of a Candidate for an Inside Sales job.

Top performing Inside Sales Operations drive their Revenue & Performance through superior hiring tactics. We help employers gain better insight & more accurate predictions as to which applicants from a pool of Candidates would perform up to, or beyond their established standards. You can find out about a Free Trial of SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software at http://www.telesoftsystems.ca/64201.html

It is definitely presence rather than gender that makes the difference. The lower voice wasn't successful from being more masculine but may have been more commanding and confident, which anyone can do. I have worked with many sales teams over the years and part of "self troubleshooting" is to show where conversations fall apart is where they have to do some work. The good thing is that by identifying that you can course correct.

If your team is having challenges with admins, evaluate these points:

1. What are they asking admins for? Is there a way to do an added layer of research to get the info to reach the prospect directly (automated system, Jigsaw,etc.) For example, are they asking for a contact name they can get on their own so they are just asking for a transfer instead of a name?

2. It is important to sound confident and have command in their voice. Not in a rude way, or condescending way, but just sound professional. It is more of a dynamic of making statements vs. asking for permission.

3. Over-informing admins in an effort to get transferred will result in getting shut down. This goes back to how to ask for access, but if a rep is calling the admin and explaining why they are calling and disclosing too much about what they want to talk about, they will get screened. This requires balance because they don't want to act like they are withholding information either, they need to distill it down to a statement of who they are why they are calling and keep it simple.

4. Once they get to their prospect, are they having successful calls? That will help you pinpoint if it is something you need to fix at the admin stage of the call or if it is a bigger challenge to address.

Again, once you pinpoint what is consistently going on with those calls, you can see where to course correct. So find out these points.

a) Are they flat out getting shut down?
b) Do they get asked to send info a lot?
c) Do the admins speak for the prospect and say they aren't interested?

"A" has to do with how they are introducing themselves. B,C has more to do with over-informing and the amount of information they are discussing with admins.

Tone and pitch of voice absolutely impacts your relationship with gate keepers and executives. Prior to owning my own business, in my past life I was the EA to a CEO of a software company. Here are four reasons why I "opened" the gate:

1) Confident sounding voice, along with individual having something of need/value
2) Dropping of "peer" names that were well respected in industry or by CEO
3) Gov't or Compliance Needs - non-compliant issues or urgent security needs
4) Taking time to learn about "ME" not just my CEO and executive staff

I'm hoping this will give your staff a flavor from an Executive Assistant's point of view.

Hi Ben! From an upcoming edition of our Business To Business By Phone® newsletter

IMAGINE THE ACTOR JAMES EARL JONES

I’m betting you imagine his voice even before his face. James Earl Jones has one of those voices you want to listen to no matter what he is speaking about.

Now imagine your own voice when your contact first picks up the phone live or hears your recorded message. Are you projecting a voice that people will want to hear and listen to?

Of course, most of us don’t have a James Earl Jones voice. But in our profession, we must make our voices and our verbal presentations compelling enough to attract favorable attention, even when we are interrupting someone’s thought-stream. Inside sales IS an audio medium!

So … get out your digital voice recorder and put it to good use! Listen to and critique yourself with a careful ear. In live dialogue and even when you leave a voice message, you can and will discern what you do that you like, and what you want to change. You already know what your contacts sound like … now find out what YOU sound like!

© 2011, Michael A. Brown

I find it depends on type of company we're calling. With large companies where receptionist traffics calls all day, you want to sound authoritative, like you have every reason in the world to be calling. Key to this is asking for someone by name rather than who handles this or that. Even if it means taking a minute to research online for a name of someone who may not have anything to do with the person you're trying ot reach, they'll be more likely to help you than the receptionist. Also try to say as little as possible to the receptionist to avoid making it obvious that you don't have a relationship with the person. Example, "Mark Jones, please." They'll probably ask what company you're with or nature of call. Very important not to say too much here. Simply, "Cynthia Seibert with MMG -- the CPA advisory firm." Or, "Cynthia Seibert with MMG. Calling about the recognition program." Notice the use of "the" rather than "a."

If it's a small business, a friendlier approach works better because person who answers the phone is more involved in the business and likely knows everyone who has a relationship with the company. That's when the "you might be able to help me" approach works better. You want to turn this person into a champion who will take you to the decision maker. In either case, sound confident that you have something worth talking to decision maker about.

I find it depends on type of company we're calling. With large companies where receptionist traffics calls all day, you want to sound authoritative, like you have every reason in the world to be calling. Key to this is asking for someone by name rather than who handles this or that. Even if it means taking a minute to research online for a name of someone who may not have anything to do with the person you're trying ot reach, they'll be more likely to help you than the receptionist. Also try to say as little as possible to the receptionist to avoid making it obvious that you don't have a relationship with the person. Example, "Mark Jones, please." They'll probably ask what company you're with or nature of call. Very important not to say too much here. Simply, "Cynthia Seibert with MMG -- the CPA advisory firm." Or, "Cynthia Seibert with MMG. Calling about the recognition program." Notice the use of "the" rather than "a."

If it's a small business, a friendlier approach works better because person who answers the phone is more involved in the business and likely knows everyone who has a relationship with the company. That's when the "you might be able to help me" approach works better. You want to turn this person into a champion who will take you to the decision maker. In either case, sound confident that you have something worth talking to decision maker about.

I find it depends on type of company we're calling. With large companies where receptionist traffics calls all day, you want to sound authoritative, like you have every reason in the world to be calling. Key to this is asking for someone by name rather than who handles this or that. Even if it means taking a minute to research online for name of someone who may not have anything to do with the person you're trying to reach, they'll be more likely to help you than the receptionist. Also try to say as little as possible to the receptionist to avoid making it obvious that you don't have a relationship with the person. Example, "Mark Jones, please." They'll probably ask what company you're with or nature of call. Very important not to say too much here. Simply, "Cynthia Seibert with MMG -- the CPA advisory firm." Or, "Cynthia Seibert with MMG. Calling about the recognition program." Notice the use of "the" rather than "a."

If it's a small business, a friendlier approach works better because person who answers the phone is more involved in the business and likely knows everyone who has a relationship with the company. That's when the "you might be able to help me" approach works better. You want to turn this person into a champion who will take you to the decision maker. In either case, sound confident that you have something worth talking to decision maker about.

Content is king. A rep with a squeaky voice will get my assistants attention and respect if she/he has done proper research and has relevant content relating to our business. Interesting how sales content is very much like social media content. If the rep is "pitching" themselves, they don't get through. However, if they add value, there is a reason to let them through. If pitch or tone is a gatekeepers filter, then shame on them.

Great discussion!

Conducting a ‘Voice Audition’ with your Job Candidates should be part of everyone’s Call Center Hiring Best Practices. You need to ensure that your Job Candidates have the correct power, pitch, pace and pausing in order to project the right ‘Telephone Personality’ for your Brand.

The Inside Sales Agent is your ambassador to your customers. The human voice of the Inside Sales Agent provides your company’s human face. If the gatekeeper or prospect cannot understand your Inside Sales Agent due to accent issues or communicative style - problems are compounded. The gatekeeper can become agitated/resistant – and your Inside Sales Agent may never connect with the prospect/decision maker - and your company may wind up losing a customer and future sales.

However - I would suggest that beyond issues of Tone & Pitch – getting through the gatekeeper is far more a function of whether or not you have your Inside Sales Agents operating in a tightly-scripted Call Center environment.

Scripted and unscripted call handling are discrete and different pursuits - requiring separate Personality/Job-Fit/Temperament Factors. It is rare for someone who performs well in a tightly-scripted Call Center environment to successfully make the transition to unscripted caller interactions. Equally – someone with the Intellect & ‘Verbal Artistry’ to motivate a gatekeeper/prospect/decision maker to action over the phone in an unscripted fashion is rarely a good fit for a tightly-scripted Call Center environment.

While the decision to tightly script a call is sometimes determined by an Industry Sector - such as Financial Services/Insurance/Healthcare etc. - or a Client’s SLA for an Outsourcer - in the world of Telemarketing & Inside Sales – where Success & Failure are so easily measured –– requiring Agents to rigorously follow a script is at its core a function of the quality of the Agent you employ – and the Root Cause of whether or not your Inside Sales Agents are successfully navigating past gatekeepers.

Top performing Call Centers drive their Revenue & Performance through superior hiring tactics. We help employers gain better insight & more accurate predictions as to which applicants from a pool of Candidates would perform up to, or beyond their established standards. You can find out about a Free Trial of SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software at http://www.telesoftsystems.ca/64201.html

Telesales people are born... If you train someone and they pick up quickly. They are it... If not, they should look for another job. if not, they will just die of stress.

And also, being pleasant, sounding happy and conversational are just one of the many qualities of a good telemarketer. These things can't be taught. There are just people who were born to do a specific job and telemarketing is not for everyone just like any other job.

When you hire telesales people, let other telesales reps be involved in the hiring process. Their input could just be very helpful.