Ever wondered how someone can sound so great over the phone? Here are 5 simple telephone sales training tips on how you can achieve that:

• Word crutches. Words such as um, er, uh, and the like are bothersome. You probably already learned from your phone sales training that you are to avoid uttering word crutches. Here’s a way to check if you utter them or not. The next time you chat with a friend, casually place over your ears your cupped hands. You will soon see if you use word crutches in between your statements. The goal here is to minimize or completely eliminate those words when speaking. Instead of uttering word crutches, train yourself to pause or take a breath.

• Breathe like a singer. Singers breathe from the diaphragm, unlike most people, who breathe from the chest. Breathing from the chest is made apparent by seeing the rise and fall of someone’s shoulders. Breathing from the diaphragm gives you more air, hence being able to use your voice to the maximum.

• Don’t be a Speedy Gonzalez. All of us speak at different speeds. Some people can speak superfast and understand other fast speakers as well. However, one phone sales technique is to speak at a normal speed, which is about 2 ½ to 3 ½ words per second.You may be able to test your speed by saying, “‘Are you planting flowers on ’em, my man?’ ‘No, I’m just cultivating ’em, ma’am.’” It would normally take 5 seconds to read that without stumbling on any of the words. If you’re any faster, you will have to slow down when speaking on the phone. You can personally give yourself phone skills training by repeating those statements until you say them without stumping.

• Widen your vocal range. How wide is your vocal range? Can you adjust your voice from high-pitch to low-pitch with little or no difficulty? If you can, then it will be easier for you to match the voice of your customer, making it easier for him to listen to you.Why the fuss? Having a narrow vocal range means you sound monotonous. Having a monotonous voice can lead your customers to lose interest in what you have to say because of the way you sound. It’s like hearing the ticktock of a clock; before you know it, you’re drifting off to sleep.Here are activities you can do to exercise or widen your vocal range:
  • Read children’s books out loud; this may prove to be not that easy if you don’t have kids.
  • Count from one to ten. As you do, make your voice go from low-pitch to high-pitch, then back down again.

  Widening your vocal range may be part of improving your phone sales skills.

  Here’s a trivia: In a phone conversation, your mood is conveyed from your voice almost 30 times more than when face-to-face with somebody.

• Keep your vocal chords watered. My wife has these hanging baskets up during summer. She’s vigilant in watering them every night. They quickly dry up if you fail to water them. Your voice needs water as much. Your vocal chords need to stay fairly damp and warm, so it is advisable to use warm water to lubricate them.

Voice pros are known to avoid phlegm monsters: cheese, mayo, oily and fatty foods, caffeine, sweets, and chocolates. Avoiding these monsters may prove to be more challenging for some. Some offices have vending machines for junk foods, making those monsters easily available for them.

Applying the above mentioned telephone sales training tips can assure you of further developing effective phone skills and, of course, being one of those people who sound great on the phone.