One’s ‘Voice’ is a master for all situations. 
As humans, we adapt the tone of our voice to match our current circumstances. For instance, when a mother sits at night with her young child she encourages him/her to sleep using a soothing voice.  When a football coach is directing his tired, dirty, huge-in-size football players to get a 1st down, he uses a motivating or commanding voice.  When a customer service rep, or sales rep, wants to persuade his/her customer to engage in conversation, listen to his/her presentation or open up about what their needs/wants are they use an encouraging voice.

True or False: Customers love an ‘Effervescent’ voice.
TRUE: Customers are human beings just like everyone else.  They love someone who talks to them in an ‘easy’ voice.  They find it irresistible when the voice they hear is fun, exciting, lilting, easy, inviting and trusting.  We refer to this as an ‘effervescent’ voice, or a voice that is ‘vivacious and enthusiastic’.

How you are defining an ‘Effervescent’ voice?
It doesn’t have to be at 110 decibels in strength or sound like a part in a major theatrical production, and it certainly doesn’t have to override the whole conversation.  But, it does need to be positive and friendly no matter the decibel level it is delivered.  It’s also best delivered in almost the same strength, diction and format as your customer is speaking (unless of course they are yelling!)   Make sure your voice is happy and positive in tone, no matter what.

Manager’s Recommendation:  Recognize your ‘voice’!  Recognize your customer’s ‘voice’!
During training, take your team aside and role play ‘recognizing your ‘voice’’, and ‘recognizing your customer’s ‘voice’’.
Goal:
For team members to become more in tune with how their voice is received by customers.
Action Steps:
*Have everyone on your team gather around, Have 1 person stand and say a paragraph of words to the group, keep it under 1 minute.  Have them greet the group and share what they did so far that day or an interesting note from their lives last night or the day before.  Something that is comfortable for them to talk about.
* On a 3” x 5” note card, have the team confidentially ‘rate’ the person’s voice who just finished speaking (Did they sound friendly, happy, condescending, angry, monotone, etc.)  At the end of the meeting, pass these cards to everyone that spoke for them to gain some insights.
* In your next meeting discuss what insights they have picked up from their customer’s voices or if they have changed the voice they use with customers in order to be more effective or come across differently.

Time Required: 
 5 minutes preparation
 5 minute ‘Huddle’