Creating and maintaining the right personal image for you and your company

After reading Tim's entry on call centres here, http://www.callcenterscript.com/2006/01/call_center_agents_you_are_on.html I feel compelled to write further about voice - since we do spend time on the phone with those we cannot meet locally. * accent: some accent are considered exotic, and some are downright annoying. It all depends on the trends of certain cultures at a certain time. I once met someone who was president of a company. She had a heavy accent that people didn't respect her as the president. She ended up having to work a lot harder to prove who she was to turn prospects into clients. So, for those of you who have accents, find a voice coach who can coach you to speak the "North American" way. Of course, I'm not talking about the New York accent, or any local accents from North American regions. I'm talking about foreign accents. * breathy, sexy voices: reserve this type of voice for only a certain type of "night time" industry! These voices are inappropriate in daily professional situations. Some may think sex sells, but it takes away points from total professionalism. Attitudes can be heard through the phone. I know it if someone is having a good or bad day when I speak to them. The key here is not to be self centred while serving customers, but seeing their needs and fulfill them. This takes the mind of issues that may be troubling you, while maintaining a high degree of professionalism. However, if there is something that really bothers you that you cannot hide your emotions (traumatic situations such as death of a close one), it's better to take some time off, if you can, so that you can deal with the issue before returning to work.