Does Your Accent Effect Telemarketing Success?Does accent effect telemarketing success? The voice is one of the most powerful part of any campaign, as it is what your customer hears.
Some accents are more pleasing to the ear than others, but accent is a very personal thing. One person may love the Scouse accent (for example) and someone else may really dislike it.
The UK has a wide variety of accents, from Cornish and the West Country right up to the highlands of Scotland. Not to mentioned the hundreds of foreigners in the UK speaking English with their own unique accent.
Telemarketing accent does play a roll in success. The UK has 86 counties within its boarders; each with very very different accents.
Some accents are very subtle but some are very strong and can be difficult to understand.
Does accent effect the results? If an agency is calling prospects around Leeds, does it help if the caller is from Leeds (or has a Yorkshire accent)?
If you do telemarketing in Scotland, would it not help having a Scottish accent? Chances are yes it can telemarketing accents do play a roll.
Having a similar accent to someone that you are talking to does build a bridge, you have something in common and can relate to them.
However the problem is that the UK is now diversified. Scottish people living in London. Welsh people living in Dundee.
Plus foreign people, many will work for lead generation companies. Telemarketing accents can affect the results of a campaign.
If someone from another country (India, Poland, US, France) was working for an agency (UK born or not) and was calling prospects in the UK. The customers on hearing the accent would make assumptions. Is this an Indian call centre?
Are they a US call centre?
This could well bring up defences and cause problems in the selling process.
Does accent effect the campaigns? So yes, having an accent can actually affect a campaign.
As soon as you pick up the phone, you start to subconsciously build an impression in your mind based around the following:
These are the standard thoughts that would go through our minds within 1-2 seconds of answering the phone. If the caller has an accent, other questions would then spring to mind:
Sometimes when you call someone, they instantly take a liking to you. Of course much of this is dependent on what is happening in their world. They could be super busy and you have just caught them at a bad time. You might have called at a good time.
Sometimes when you call, they instantly dislike you, just because of your accent. No matter what you are selling and they may well need what you are calling about, but they do not want to talk to you.
Remember, no-one wants a telemarketing company to call them and try and sell to them, telemarketing is an uphill struggle.
Generally speaking, accents are divided into 6 types:
Of course there are regional accents (so for Southern this could be the North London accent, Hampshire, Dorset, Pompey etc.) but generally speaking the accents can be classified into the 6 main groups above.
Telemarketing agencies should consider accents when doing cold calling, as the accent of the caller does play a big roll in the calling process.
People do make subconscious decisions when they hear an accent and that can bring a guard down or put a barrier up (subconsciously).
Ideally if telemarketing companies can recruit around having a variety of calling staff that have the range of accents (into the 6 regions as above) then this should cover all bases.
Cold calling accents is not where it stops.
Some businesses want women making their calls, or men. Certainly if people are selling specific products or services, gender plays a roll.
However you need to be careful about discrimination, you don’t want to end up at an employment tribunal.
Marketing certain products over the phone does lean sometimes more to women then men and vice versa.
As we have seen, telemarketing accents do play a roll in the success of failure of a telemarketing campaign. This is more from a subconscious perspective which is unique to all of us.
There is no way of knowing who will be answering the call when you call them. They may warm to your accent or be put off by it, it really is out of your hands.
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