We are the sleep-deprived people. We work while the rest of the Philippines is dozing off. To put it bluntly, we are comparable to vampires, nocturnal creatures that prowl by night and slumber when the sun rises. It can be a vicious cycle to live by day in and day out. For the unfortunate many, they don’t have the stamina to live this kind of lifestyle. We see people come and go all the time. Death is interminably a gaping part of the loom. Suffice it to say, resignations are not a shocker at all.
Aside from the nocturnal existence, the job creates impulses, which trigger pressure points. On our 8-hour shift, we put our ass on the hot seat. We are the pawns of the 1-800 world.
We are called by various names. Customer Service Representatives. Call Center Agents. The worst label I got was from an irate caller who described me as a “f*ck*ng telephone operator”. (I took calls for more than 4 years, you know.) Talk about the sensitivity of a linoleum! That was an episode that made me grit my teeth.
The concurrence of a very powerful technology puts reps, into the oppression line. Customers call for one apparent reason: to have their problems resolved. They expect results. They want reps to deliver them the good news. We are, more or less, their salvation army.
With this hodge-podge at hand, some calls are badly intertwined in the sadistic psyche. Some callers expect so much from us yet in the end it turns out that expectations were not met. Thus come dead-end calls.
In a split second, callers morphed into vicious diablos that spit scorching hot fire from the other end. This is where the saga of an irate caller begins. (For those who have received calls like these let me hear you say AMEN!)
This consequently has perverse effects. Customers can be so damn insensitive and tactless at times. They can be so intellectually challenged more often than not (just being politically correct here).
I have witnessed agents on the floor fall from grace under pressure. Others crack and break. Fellas, this should not be the case. With all the tête-à-tête about delivering excellent customer service and improving call handling skills (which I have no objections to), there are just callers who don’t get the picture. Can we summon up the courage to inform them they they’re just playing dumb? These people make me want to get a knife and shove it into their thick skull to let them understand that their issue is a hopeless case. No matter what you do, there will be people who will disapprove of it. We cannot please everyone so it is foolish to even try. It is time-consuming and energy draining.
In as much as we cater to the concept of universal tolerance, we have no choice but to join the bandwagon for resilience. We got to admit that without these bad calls it would definitely cut the zest for innovations and challenge. A rep's life would be like a smooth flat road — safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless. Besides, this is basically the nature of the business and of the job.
The more the bowstring is pulled back, the faster the arrow will fly. The more we are pushed back by these irate callers, the more potential we can develop for moving forward and developing our craft.
Let us learn the good side of every bad call. It would be highly practical for us to grow a thick skin and learn to appear unperturbed, always maintaining our composure. Detachment is the key here. These callers are hundreds and thousands of miles away from us. Never let their verbal daggers get the better of us. We know more than they ever will. We have been armed with the knowledge and skills instilled through rigorous months of training. They are calling for help and not the other way around. We are their messiahs!
This is, of course, a rhetorical concept. But whether or not it’s destined or not, but boon and not bane, we can opine that our fate is in our hands.
Our job is to help. Customers may not always be right but they should be treated rightly. Under the moon and the stars, we prowl the night not to look for prey, but to bear the torch that will guide them from being prey themselves. Sounds cheesy but true. Make sense? Just catch the drift, will yah?!
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