Have you ever been rejected by a prospect because of your accent?

Have you ever been rejected initially by a prospect because of your accent?

Attached poll
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๐Ÿ”Ž Prospecting
14
CuriousFox
WR Officer
6
๐ŸฆŠ
No
jefe
Arsonist
4
๐Ÿ
Definitely not. But being from a major city in Canada my accent is relatively neutral.

Though I always wonder if something like this is on their mind...
GALACTIC
Politicker
1
Account Executive
lol being the Vancouver/West Coast rep I always get funny comments from the Toronto or NY offices about my slow "doctor voice" they say it sounds like i'm prescribing medicine, not closing a deal. I think it drives the east coast crazy because they're all so aggressive
jefe
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ
Hahaha that's awesome. I'm Toronto born and raised, definitely speak a bit quickly, but I ALWAYS pronounce the second 't'.

This whole 'Turonno' thing is ridiculous - I know how to enunciate.
GALACTIC
Politicker
1
Account Executive
ah yes good ol Tarana LOL
Fenderbaum
Politicker
1
Retired Choirboy๐Ÿช•
Reminds me of an old song by The Kings... This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide...

Hey Judy, get Trudy

Ya said to call you up if I was feelin' moody

Hey little Donna, I still wanna

Ya said to ring you up when I was in Toronto

antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
3
Bravado's Resident Asshole
No, not at all. I have lost a deal due to my over excitement though
LordOfWar
Tycoon
3
Blow it up
No, but I imagine there are not many negative stereotypes of a central Canadian accent. Most people just mistake me for American until I tell them what I'm all aboot.
nomdeguerre
Executive
2
Account executive
No, but I probably should have ๐Ÿ˜‚
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
i have not
ADK
Opinionated
1
VC Associate
How do you know if it was because of your accent?
TennisandSales
Politicker
1
Head Of Sales
nope.
TheIncarceration
Politicker
1
SDR Manager
I've had experience with the complete opposite. I work with an SE with a pretty thick southern accent and some prospects fawn over him haha
Pachacuti
Politicker
1
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
No, but I have a regular "American accent" -west coast version. But I can see certain accents having a very difficult time here in the US.
SaaSam
Politicker
1
Account Executive
I haven't, my wife calls my accent a "cowboy" accent. Not southern, but if you knew people that grew up ranching, you've heard it before.

In my first year as an SDR, I would use fake accents, typically southern, when cold calling. My theory was that most people like to hear something different enough that they'd be willing to stay on the phone with me a little longer if I sounded different. So long as they can understand what you're saying, I don't think that would be a problem.

However, due to bad actors out of certain regions of the world, middle eastern and Indian accents cause immediate red flags. We can't pretend that that region isn't wrought with scam call centers and things like that. It's unfortunate for the legitimate salesmen and businesses from that region that it likely loses them a lot of business because we have that initial reaction when the person on the other end sounds like they're from that area.

Additionally, if you have an accent that makes you hard to understand, I can see prospects not giving you the time of day because it requires effort on their end to be sold to. Let's face it, most prospects are lazy anyways, and getting them to go out of their way for anything can be a chore, so if they struggle to understand the conversation, they'll likely tune out.

How you approach the situation will depend a lot on your personality. But, if you think your accent is causing you problems, treat it like an objection that know a prospect will have right away and address it before they have a chance to use it as an excuse to write you off.
ThatNewAE
Big Shot
0
Account Executive - Mid enterprise
Back in the day when I was an SDR, just started cold calling and was still trying to get a hold of it. I called this prospect and he asked where I was calling from. I told where I was calling from - and he immediately said "Well yes, you reek of that accent" and he hung up.
GALACTIC
Politicker
-5
Account Executive
no, but i've definitely rejected people for this reason. If i don't trust that you understand my challenge, why on earth would I trust you to fix it
17
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