Marchex Institute Study Reveals Conversation Trends Across America
The data set was analyzed using
-
People from
Wyoming top the list for most talkative. Closely following areMontana ,North Dakota ,Vermont andMaine . In fact,Wyoming residents talk 38 percent more than New Yorkers, who are the least talkative. -
The fastest talkers and most courteous callers hail from the North.
People from northern states including
Vermont ,Rhode Island ,Alaska ,New Jersey andNew Hampshire speak the fastest, based on words per minute. On average, the fastest talkers are fromVermont , who uttered 148 words per minute, while Hawaiians uttered an average of 134 words per minute, making it the slowest talking state. Closely following as the slowest talkers areNew Mexico ,Colorado ,Georgia andSouth Carolina . Additionally, more people regularly use “please” and “thank you” on calls fromWyoming ,Vermont ,Maine ,Montana andMichigan . -
Patience is lower in the
Pacific Northwest . In analyzing hold-time abandon rates,Washington state andOregon demonstrated the least patience, along withArkansas ,Kansas andMississippi . By contrast, residents from states in the Midwest and Northeast demonstrated the most patience, includingVermont ,Delaware ,Michigan ,Minnesota andNew Hampshire . -
Cursing increases as the day progresses. On average, callers
cursed 1.1 to 1.3 times per call across the board. However, cursing
becomes more common as the day progresses. Profanity is least likely
to be used before
4:00 p.m. , but then the curse rate on calls doubles after6:00 p.m. , jumping from three percent to six percent. The data also shows that instances of cursing are nuanced. For example, s**t is the most common curse word, but can be used differently depending on the tone of the conversation.
“Our AI-powered speech analytics technology not only automates tasks
like call transcription, but allows businesses to do a more complex
sentiment analysis of inbound phone calls. This offers more contextual
clues around customer reactions, tone and phrasing, which are crucial in
human-to-human conversation,” said
Building off these insights,
-
Convey authenticity and positivity. Using phrases such as “I
can solve that for you” or “I’d be happy to help” tends to reassure
customers that you have their best interest at heart. In fact, a
recent
Marchex Institute study2 found top performing customer service agents in the telecommunications industry said “happy” four times as often as other agents. -
Avoid negative phrases.
Marchex data from the same study shows agents with lower sales rates said “no” twice as often as the top performing agents. Avoiding common negative phrases such as “No, I don’t think I can” or “No, that’s not right” can help. - Use apologies sparingly. Agents with lower sales performance apologized 50 percent more than other agents and said “sorry” nearly four times as often. Participating as an active listener and communicating statements such as “I hear you” and “I understand” can be more effective in reaching a path to resolution.
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1: |
Based on an analysis of more than 6.8 million automated transcriptions of calls placed between 8/1/2017 and 10/31/2017 |
|
2: |
Based on an analysis of over 47,000 sales calls placed between 12/24/17 and 2/1/2018 |
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State-by-state rankings: |
|
Most talkative: | Least talkative: |
1. Wyoming |
1. New York |
2. Montana |
2. New Jersey |
3. North Dakota |
3. Nevada |
4. Vermont |
4. Maryland |
5. Maine |
5. Illinois |
Fastest talkers: | Slowest talkers: |
1. Vermont |
1. Hawaii |
2. Rhode Island |
2. New Mexico |
3. Alaska |
3. Colorado |
4. New Jersey |
4. Georgia |
5. New Hampshire |
5. South Carolina |
Most patient: | Least patient: |
1. Vermont |
1. Washington |
2. Delaware |
2. Oregon |
3. Michigan |
3. Arkansas |
4. Minnesota |
4. Kansas |
5. New Hampshire |
5. Mississippi |
Most courteous: | Least courteous: |
1. Wyoming |
1. Mississippi |
2. Vermont |
2. Alabama |
3. Maine |
3. Georgia |
4. Montana |
4. Louisiana |
5. Michigan |
5. Texas |
Highest curse rate: | Lowest curse rate: |
1. Wyoming |
1. Arkansas |
2. New Hampshire |
2. Mississippi |
3. Rhode Island |
3. Tennessee |
4. Vermont |
4. Utah |
5. Massachusetts |
5. Minnesota |
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180509005752/en/
Source:
Marchex, Inc.
Investor Relations
Trevor Caldwell, 206-331-3600
ir@marchex.com
or
Media
Inquiries:
Edelman
Jessie DiMariano, 206-268-2289
jessie.dimariano@edelman.com