Proper Inflection Can Reduce Refusal Rates

I received some free coaching on telephone presentation skills from a prospect during my telemarketing career.  He asked me, “Are you asking me or telling me?”  I was telling him about a service so that I could set an appointment for a sales rep to make a presentation.  I was inflecting up at the end of sentences so that they sounded like questions.  The prospect went on to tell me that this habit was extremely annoying and showed a lack of confidence.  

Anyone who sells anything needs confidence.  If a salesperson is not confident the prospect immediately doubts the product or service.

I remembered this free coaching when I started working in market research and public opinion research.  We are not selling anything, but the same principles apply.  If an interviewer does not sound confident when he reads an introduction to a questionnaire, respondents will doubt the legitimacy of the survey.  They will think that it is not really a survey but a sales scam.  An interviewer can sound more confident by reading statements as statements and questions as questions.  An interviewer who is not confident will read an introduction to a survey like this:

‘Hello?  My name is John Stevens?  I’m calling from Saperstein Associates?  A public opinion research firm in Columbus, Ohio?’

An interviewer who reads an introduction this way is rarely conscious that she is doing so.  She is asking the respondent a question, which is ‘May I continue?’  If an interviewer can be aware of this and overcome it, he will have a better chance of having respondents listen long enough to learn what the survey is about.  This results in lower refusal rates, which helps and interviewer to feel more confident, which can further reduce refusal rates.

John C. Stevens
Saperstein Associates
(614) 261-0065

jstevens@sapersteinassociates.com