Accent on Success in US

I did something my generation probably consider a bit nerdy in some rain-induced spare time over the weekend, although kids and non-Brits probably don’t get such hang-ups.  I got involved in a forum discussing why it was that the English accent is apparently so successful when cold-caling in America.

Most people seemed to think it was due to being distinctive and so gave you a starting edge.  My ‘two cents’ worth was:

“I’ve cold-called from London, Cape Town and New York.  When I’ve enjoyed pleasing results beyond my homeland, I feel it has less to do with my Oxford English or foreigner status, and more to do with the different buying attitudes of Jaapies and Yanks.

To elaborate, when you cold call in dear old Blighty, an appreciably large proportion of people try any excuse to get you off the phone.  This happens whatever their level.  They’re ‘fully covered’, ‘alright, thanks’, often ‘not interested’ despite not knowing what you can help them with, and of course, ‘get hundreds of such calls every day’.  If you’re lucky, you avoid earfuls of expletives.  So you simply get on with applying your energies to how you’re gonna get into the account.

Yet when you call in other territories, such as those I’ve experienced, you’re amazed when the prevailing response is along “please explain what you can do for me” lines.

I often tell sales people I interact with that if they can sell in the UK, they can sell anywhere, and it isn’t simply down to their mellifluous tones 🙂 ”

I didn’t introduce the concept of difficulties with American voicemail cultures, but one answer at a time, hey?!