Comments on: How to Deal With Call Centers http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/ Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:26:41 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: User Experience / How to deal with call-centre http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-69857 User Experience / How to deal with call-centre Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:45:35 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-69857 [...] handy tips from soneone working inside a call [...] [...] handy tips from soneone working inside a call [...]

]]> By: Long Hair And Updo Hairstyle | Self Help Station http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-47494 Long Hair And Updo Hairstyle | Self Help Station Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:14:38 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-47494 [...] with a clothing store on their special event or sale days – and offer your services to attract customers. You can make these books up inexpensively with a digital camera and color copies. Have them bound [...] [...] with a clothing store on their special event or sale days – and offer your services to attract customers. You can make these books up inexpensively with a digital camera and color copies. Have them bound [...]

]]> By: Jared http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-44435 Jared Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:25:37 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-44435 As a former telemonkey I agree with most of your suggestions. Also I would add that you educate yourself on the escalation policy of the company you are calling. Knowing when you can escalate and issue is power. At the telco I worked for there was a 24 hour for out of service and 48 hour for in service issues after which the problem could be escalated. Furthermore our centre had different type of managers to which certain issues got escalated, if you felt you were being treated poorly by the agent, it went to performance management and their power to help you with your actual problem was slim to none. If you had a problem with policy it goes to Operations, and they would probably just "handle" you without doing anything about your problem. If your problem was actually escalatable and the agent was either getting push back from other departments or other requirements were met they'd put you in touch with someone that could do something for you, the escalation managers. Furthermore a little warning on not being a human being to the agent you're taking to. I used to sit right next to the escalation managers and they'd hear me taking your abuse, and after I exhausted all my options and your problem was still eligble for escalation they'd take the call, and you'd be sweet as honey and complain about what a bad person I was. They'd put you at the bottom of their list for the day. As a former telemonkey I agree with most of your suggestions.

Also I would add that you educate yourself on the escalation policy of the company you are calling. Knowing when you can escalate and issue is power. At the telco I worked for there was a 24 hour for out of service and 48 hour for in service issues after which the problem could be escalated.

Furthermore our centre had different type of managers to which certain issues got escalated, if you felt you were being treated poorly by the agent, it went to performance management and their power to help you with your actual problem was slim to none. If you had a problem with policy it goes to Operations, and they would probably just “handle” you without doing anything about your problem. If your problem was actually escalatable and the agent was either getting push back from other departments or other requirements were met they’d put you in touch with someone that could do something for you, the escalation managers.

Furthermore a little warning on not being a human being to the agent you’re taking to. I used to sit right next to the escalation managers and they’d hear me taking your abuse, and after I exhausted all my options and your problem was still eligble for escalation they’d take the call, and you’d be sweet as honey and complain about what a bad person I was. They’d put you at the bottom of their list for the day.

]]> By: Janice DeBard http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-44254 Janice DeBard Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:15:37 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-44254 Thanks for this information. I am always running into problems with call centers. http://yourprivateinvitation.com/freedom/ Thanks for this information. I am always running into problems with call centers.

http://yourprivateinvitation.com/freedom/

]]> By: Aaron http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-44170 Aaron Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:25:44 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-44170 Thanks for the great information. Call centers are hard to deal with! thumbs up! Thanks for the great information. Call centers are hard to deal with! thumbs up!

]]> By: Niedzielne linki: Wszystkiego po trochu « Doodge’owy przemyślnik http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-43862 Niedzielne linki: Wszystkiego po trochu « Doodge’owy przemyślnik Tue, 18 Dec 2007 10:20:23 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-43862 [...] How to Deal With Call Centers - na koniec kilka porad, jak sobie radzić z telefoniczną obsługą klienta [...] [...] How to Deal With Call Centers – na koniec kilka porad, jak sobie radzić z telefoniczną obsługą klienta [...]

]]> By: Paul Morgan http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-43433 Paul Morgan Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:33:35 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-43433 Thanks for the tips -- I never thought of getting the receipt or staff number. I wholeheartedly agree with Jeramie that you should be nice to your heart and don't overdo it. My mom taught me to be a Ninja Consumer and I've given up months of my life fighting over Stuff. I've given up the Ninja role, but I still Hang Up & Call Again. It's easy, and it works so often. In college, the electric company sent us a $700 bill (our average was $30). Agent #1 said "pay up or we'll turn it off." Agent #2 said "ok, I've credited your account." I went to Charlotte last month and decided to come back a day early. Agent #1 said "that will be $275 for the change." Agent #2 said "that change will cost $125." Give it a try yourself! Thanks for the tips — I never thought of getting the receipt or staff number.

I wholeheartedly agree with Jeramie that you should be nice to your heart and don’t overdo it. My mom taught me to be a Ninja Consumer and I’ve given up months of my life fighting over Stuff.

I’ve given up the Ninja role, but I still Hang Up & Call Again. It’s easy, and it works so often. In college, the electric company sent us a $700 bill (our average was $30). Agent #1 said “pay up or we’ll turn it off.” Agent #2 said “ok, I’ve credited your account.”

I went to Charlotte last month and decided to come back a day early. Agent #1 said “that will be $275 for the change.” Agent #2 said “that change will cost $125.”

Give it a try yourself!

]]> By: Albert | UrbanMonk.Net http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-41764 Albert | UrbanMonk.Net Thu, 06 Dec 2007 22:26:23 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-41764 Hanging up and calling again is brilliant. With my local roadside emergency car service, I actually got it free the second time around. I needed to get my car fixed, first time I called, they wanted $70 for some admin fee. I said OK, let me call you back. When I called back it was someone different, and they sent out a mechanic for free as part of my standard membership. Very strange. Cheers, Albert | <a href="http://www.urbanmonk.net" rel="nofollow">UrbanMonk.Net</a> Modern personal development, entwined with ancient spirituality. Hanging up and calling again is brilliant. With my local roadside emergency car service, I actually got it free the second time around. I needed to get my car fixed, first time I called, they wanted $70 for some admin fee. I said OK, let me call you back. When I called back it was someone different, and they sent out a mechanic for free as part of my standard membership. Very strange.

Cheers,
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net
Modern personal development, entwined with ancient spirituality.

]]> By: David http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-41615 David Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:44:40 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-41615 Thank You for using **********, my name is David (really it is) how may I help you. I worked at a call center also, what a different world. Everyone ought to work at a call center just for the experience and to know how these things actually work. The company says they care for the customer but believe me it all come down to call time and profits. The more calls a person takes in one day the more the company makes. Some calls are monitored and the employee is rated on the call. The turnover rate was something else. One of the tricks when dealing with a call center is to determine if the employee is experienced or not. If they aren't and you know what you are doing you can get free trades or minutes or whatever they offer for the business they are covering. It is also important to realize the customer rep is limited by the programmed software! Some things they just can not do. Watch your bills, terms of agreement or contract or what ever they are called by the company change and it will show up later in a higher bill. If you get a foreign rep with an accent and you can't understand them, hang up and call again or ask for someone that can speak your language. We had a hot screen that ID'd trouble makers and hot heads, and moochers, try not to get on that list. Some customers were worth saving some were not. Do not let your bill go to collections. It will be farmed out a collection agency and it will come back to haunt you! It was a most interesting experience working for the call center, a real sausage factory. Everything we did was timed to the second. I put in my time and finally quit after 9 months. I spent as much time fixing other reps mistakes as I did actually doing productive work. By the way we had 30 seconds to document the call after the hang up, then another call came in automatically, it helps to stay on the line and let the rep finish documenting the call so they get it right. Some other helpful things,get a head set for you home phone and learn to use it, don't ever call with cell phone with a bad connection, don't expect a rep to call back, many call centers are inbound only, have your bill in front of you and any special offers etc. so the customer rep can follow what you are saying and you can follow what they talking about. It was an experience, not like any other job I've ever had. Thank you for using ********* have a nice day. Thank You for using **********, my name is David (really it is) how may I help you.
I worked at a call center also, what a different world. Everyone ought to work at a call center just for the experience and to know how these things actually work. The company says they care for the customer but believe me it all come down to call time and profits. The more calls a person takes in one day the more the company makes. Some calls are monitored and the employee is rated on the call. The turnover rate was something else. One of the tricks when dealing with a call center is to determine if the employee is experienced or not. If they aren’t and you know what you are doing you can get free trades or minutes or whatever they offer for the business they are covering. It is also important to realize the customer rep is limited by the programmed software! Some things they just can not do. Watch your bills, terms of agreement or contract or what ever they are called by the company change and it will show up later in a higher bill. If you get a foreign rep with an accent and you can’t understand them, hang up and call again or ask for someone that can speak your language.
We had a hot screen that ID’d trouble makers and hot heads, and moochers, try not to get on that list.
Some customers were worth saving some were not. Do not let your bill go to collections. It will be farmed out a collection agency and it will come back to haunt you!
It was a most interesting experience working for the call center, a real sausage factory. Everything we did was timed to the second. I put in my time and finally quit after 9 months. I spent as much time fixing other reps mistakes as I did actually doing productive work. By the way we had 30 seconds to document the call after the hang up, then another call came in automatically, it helps to stay on the line and let the rep finish documenting the call so they get it right. Some other helpful things,get a head set for you home phone and learn to use it, don’t ever call with cell phone with a bad connection, don’t expect a rep to call back, many call centers are inbound only, have your bill in front of you and any special offers etc. so the customer rep can follow what you are saying and you can follow what they talking about.
It was an experience, not like any other job I’ve ever had.
Thank you for using ********* have a nice day.

]]> By: Jeramie http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/comment-page-1/#comment-41509 Jeramie Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:02:19 +0000 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-call-centers/#comment-41509 I worked a call center for a several months. Here's some other things to bear in mind: 1) The person you're talking with probably is not even an employee of the company. The call center is probably a third-party contractor. The person who answers may also answer for a dozen different companies, and will act a predefined role depending on which company's phone number you were transferred from. He may be a computer "tech support" on one call, and the next call he's taking complaints about a restaurant, and the next call he may be a "sales manager" for an online retailer. 2) There may be no real means to actually identify who you spoke with, especially if there are multiple call center companies on the support contract. If you call 3 times, you may be dealing with 3 separate, competing support companies that are only vaguely aware that the other companies even exist. At any rate, the operators are told never to divulge the fact they're contractors. 3) Asking to speak to a manager may result in simply being transferred to another operator in the next cubicle, who will act the role of the first operator's supervisor. It's a great way to get angry customers to feel like they're being treated special. Some places don't even have an actual second level of support at all. And the operator's ACTUAL manager? They're immune to talking with customers; his job is to constantly apply pressure to the operators to crank through as many customers per shift as possible. He doesn't care about service quality, only call quantity. 4) If you're upset about the service you received, you'll save yourself a lot of grief by not bothering to follow up on it. Not only is it usually impossible to determine which support contract company answered your call, nor which of the operators you actually spoke with, but that company alone may handle several hundred thousand customers per day. Support companies expect a percentage of people will complain about anything and everything - legit or not - and are well prepared to act like they're taking the complaint when all they're doing is trying to make you feel better (so you'll hang up and they can move on to the next caller). And don't think the parent company cares either, you're just part of the perpetually unhappy percentage that's always present. Drop it, save a heart attack and move on with life. I worked a call center for a several months. Here’s some other things to bear in mind:
1) The person you’re talking with probably is not even an employee of the company. The call center is probably a third-party contractor. The person who answers may also answer for a dozen different companies, and will act a predefined role depending on which company’s phone number you were transferred from. He may be a computer “tech support” on one call, and the next call he’s taking complaints about a restaurant, and the next call he may be a “sales manager” for an online retailer.
2) There may be no real means to actually identify who you spoke with, especially if there are multiple call center companies on the support contract. If you call 3 times, you may be dealing with 3 separate, competing support companies that are only vaguely aware that the other companies even exist. At any rate, the operators are told never to divulge the fact they’re contractors.
3) Asking to speak to a manager may result in simply being transferred to another operator in the next cubicle, who will act the role of the first operator’s supervisor. It’s a great way to get angry customers to feel like they’re being treated special. Some places don’t even have an actual second level of support at all. And the operator’s ACTUAL manager? They’re immune to talking with customers; his job is to constantly apply pressure to the operators to crank through as many customers per shift as possible. He doesn’t care about service quality, only call quantity.
4) If you’re upset about the service you received, you’ll save yourself a lot of grief by not bothering to follow up on it. Not only is it usually impossible to determine which support contract company answered your call, nor which of the operators you actually spoke with, but that company alone may handle several hundred thousand customers per day. Support companies expect a percentage of people will complain about anything and everything – legit or not – and are well prepared to act like they’re taking the complaint when all they’re doing is trying to make you feel better (so you’ll hang up and they can move on to the next caller). And don’t think the parent company cares either, you’re just part of the perpetually unhappy percentage that’s always present. Drop it, save a heart attack and move on with life.

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