How Can I Help My Team Speak Up on Conference Calls to Boost Their Confidence?

Dear All,

I need to train some of the veteran employees in my firm on voice. By voice, I don't mean "Voice and Accent" but training them on increasing their volume and pitch. They have been through "Intonation & Accent Training" and "Communication Skills"; however, they are not loud enough on conference calls.

Their seniors have raised the concern that clients (US clients) have complained that these employees are not loud enough. They seem to be nervous, defensive, and at times arrogant when speaking to clients. Due to their low volume on conference calls, they are perceived as lacking confidence. I feel they are too soft-spoken. I am aware that none of the above employees are intentionally doing it, but that's how it's been understood by the clients, which I guess is obvious.

How could I help these employees to speak loudly on conference calls? This is very urgent as their careers are at stake.

Please suggest.

Thank you.

Regards,
KVE

I didn't understand what you meant by "talk to individuals." They interact with clients mostly via conference calls.

Regards,
KVE

You can monitor the quality when they speak to a single person and when they are on conference calls with more than one person whom they are speaking to. Maybe it's the fear that they are talking to a lot of people and they are conscious.

I understand they become very conscious when they are talking to someone who is higher in authority than they are. Also, they are scared and nervous when talking to or interacting with their Senior Managers, VPs, etc. of the company.

My concern is how do I help them come out of this fear or situation. Please suggest.

Thanks.
KVE

Hi. Couldn't help but view the conversation. We had a situation similar to this, actually tougher than this because facing people is more difficult than voice calls. These people could probably do with motivational assertiveness training more than voice pitching. They are clearly afraid of voicing their thoughts, hence that fear needs to be driven out first. More friendly interaction with the seniors in immediate vicinity, as in the same premises or at least in the same city, should be able to do the trick, at least to an extent. I'm sure you'll get many more responses from people who are well-versed with these kinds of situations, so hang on in there.

Regards,
Dipali

Dear KVE,

I would have to be present during a few inadequately taken voice calls or, as a compromise option, listen to recordings of them. May I have a number to contact you on? My mail-ID is [IMG]https://www.citehr.com/misc.php?do=email_dev&email=Ymxlc3NlZGhlaW dodHNAcmVkaWZmbWFpbC5jb20=[/IMG]. A few minimal particulars about me are attached.

Regards

Hi KVE,

It's been quite some time since you posted the message. I'm sure by now you would have figured out how to go about the issue. However, I thought you could use the coach-train-coach method. First, begin with asking them the questions as in the attached doc. This will give you an idea of what help they need.

Furthermore, based on your observations, I feel that your team members need training in the following areas:
- Customer cultural sensitization
- Phone Etiquette
- Motivation and Assertiveness
- Achievement orientation
- Building lasting relationships with customers

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Warm Regards,
KayBee