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Customer Service vocabulary · Polite & Empathetic Language

Tone

Meaning in customer service, with examples

/təʊn/nounCore term

In customer service, tone means: The way something is said or written that shows feelings and attitude, such as friendly, formal, impatient or rude.

In Turkish: ton, ses tonu, üslup

How it is used

Agents work on their tone of voice on the phone and their tone in writing. Feedback may say "Your tone was a bit abrupt" or "Keep a positive tone." In chats and emails, word choice and punctuation create the tone.

Example sentences

  1. Even when the customer is rude, keep your tone calm and professional.

  2. A one-word reply can sound cold in tone, even if you don't mean it that way.

Common collocations

  • tone of voice
  • friendly tone
  • professional tone
  • keep a positive tone
  • empathyThe ability to understand and share another person's feelings, and to show them that you understand.
  • canned responseA ready-made reply saved in a support tool so that agents can send it quickly to answer common questions.
  • scriptA written text or guide that tells agents what to say during a call, including the greeting, key questions and the closing.
  • active listeningListening with full attention, checking that you have understood and showing the speaker that you are following.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Polite & Empathetic Language

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