What do you do if customers struggle to understand your call center interactions?

1 Speak clearly and slowly

One of the main causes of customers not understanding your call center interactions is poor or fast speech. This can be caused by a strong accent, a low or high pitch, a muffled or noisy background, or speaking too quickly or softly. This can be particularly difficult for customers with hearing problems, language barriers, or distractions. To improve your clarity and pace, you should use a headset with a good microphone and adjust the volume and tone of your voice. Additionally, enunciate each word and avoid slang, jargon, or abbreviations that may confuse customers. Speak slowly and use pauses and emphasis to emphasize important points or instructions. If needed, repeat or rephrase key information and questions to confirm that customers understand you.

3 Use simple and positive language

Customers may struggle to understand your call center interactions due to complex or negative language. You may use technical terms, acronyms, or jargon that customers are not familiar with, or you may use words or phrases that imply criticism, blame, or rejection. These choices can make customers feel confused, intimidated, or defensive, which can affect your communication and cooperation. To improve your simplicity and positivity, try using plain and simple language that customers can easily understand and relate to. Explain any terms, acronyms, or jargon that you need to use and give examples or analogies if possible. Additionally, use positive and polite words and phrases that express appreciation, agreement, or encouragement while avoiding negative and rude words and phrases that convey dissatisfaction, disagreement, or discouragement.

4 Use visual and audio aids

A final reason why customers may struggle to understand your call center interactions is because of lack of visual or audio aids. You may only rely on verbal communication, which can be limiting, boring, or ambiguous, especially when conveying complex or detailed information or instructions. As a result, customers may lose interest, attention, or memory. To improve your use of visual and audio aids, consider utilizing screen sharing, video calls, webinars, images, graphs, charts, diagrams, audio recordings, podcasts, voice messages, captions, transcripts, and subtitles. These can help customers who have hearing difficulties or language barriers and also help simplify points or data.