In your eyes

Here is a story in the eyes of a consumer...
Im having trouble with my product or service so I call the 1-800 help number and after going through the whole automated system, you may finally get to a representative that is HUMAN. They may be located across the world and hardly speak your language, but needless to say you finally did get a human. Now I'm rambling about my problem(s) and the employee has to transfer me to the correct department. I'm thinking ok, fine, just get me to another human. Now I repeat my story and representative says she'll fix my product/service. No one goes out of their way to offer me a credit, send me coupons, or go out of their way to make me happy and over satisfied with the company. All they do is fix what is wrong. They apologize for my inconvenience, so how will they make it up to me?? I would have to speak with a supervisor or maybe even another department (again) to really get what I want. No thanks, the credit/coupon/etc. probably isn't even worth my time by that point. I don't understand why most companies cant just do something to make me more satisfied up front?! As a business owner, I would think being customer focused would always be the main priority...

How to get what you want :)

There are certain things you can do to get what you want when calling a call center. Let's start with the top 5 things NOT to do...
1. Do not interrupt the call center(CCE) employee, you are just wasting your time and mine because I have to get through specific criteria before I am able to end the call.
2. Do not scream at the CCE or use profanity. This is not how you get what you want. As a CCE myself, I will not do favors (add priority codes) for people who yell and me and tell me how mad they are with our service. Have some respect and talk to me kindly and I will gladly do whatever I am able to, to help. Also, I understand you may be frustrated, mad, or confused but if you could just simply tell me that respectfully I may take the extra step to do anything/everything I can for you.
3. Do not start blabbing before you give them any information, they cannot pull up any account without information from you so therefor they are writing down all the nonesense you are telling them until they finally get a chance to speak and ask you for your information. This means they then have to type everything they just wrote down which is a waste of paper and a waste of time.
4. Give them the basics. State your problem, answer my questions, and say thank you when we are finished. All the extra information is a waste of time, which in a call center may be a big pet peeve of most CCE's.
5. Have common courtesy. Most people say some sort of bye before hanging up when you're on the telephone with someone. Customers that call into call centers apparently dont see it as necessary. It is common courtesy people and I still have the ability to add/remove anything I noted on the account (even those priority codes that may speed up any process for you)

By avoiding doing these five things, you wil surely get what you want when calling a call center.

Check back soon for a typical day in life of a CCE!

First time

This one is for you Frankie V!

It was a sunday evening, the call center was slow and I was pretty bored. "Alabama", states the female voice in my headset. I get the information I need from my caller, as usual. Pretty soon I'm dealing with the most bizzare caller I have ever had... so far. One moment he is screaming obsenities, the next he is apologizing, then rambling to freaking out again, telling the devil to get out of his house and he knows the games Satin plays and is screaming for him to get out of his life, then apologizing again. This goes on for approximately 23 minutes. After that, the last 2 minutes, this caller is thanking me for bringing his happiness back to him and for bringing his sense of humor back. (I think I said mm hmm about 100 times throughout this conversation and not much more) The caller really had talked himself into being "happy" again. After the caller is done thanking me, he asks me to marry him and then states Marry Me! After I tell him I am married, the call is finally over and I click my release button as soon as I can.

For some of you who may not know, most call center employees have what my place of employment calls "goals" every month. These include sales, Quality Assurance, and my struggle, handle time. I consistently miss my handle time goal every month, which means I am talking too much on the calls. This is an average number of all calls handled each day and let me tell you, a 25 minute call does not average well on a sunday that is super slow. So thank you, Mr. mood swings.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I have been working at this call center for 9 months and probably will continue to work there until I am out of college in 2 years.

No, anonymous, the lady did not sound hot, she sounded mean.

I had someone call in and tell me that I sound like the girl from the movie, My Cousin Vinnie. I'm not sure if that was hitting on me or not, but most callers call in to either report their troubles kindly and get on with their day or feel good about screaming at you. I dont think anyone has actually "hit" on me. Have you heard of call center employees getting hit on, Frankie V, or have you "hit on" a call center employee?? :)

Check back soon for more call center experiences! Also, if you have any experiences with call centers, please feel free to share! If you like this blog, link to it or become a follower. :D

Introduction to Call Center

Have you ever called a business and had to speak with someone(s) working in a call center? Were you frustrated with the product or service and screamed at the representative? Did you feel better after ruining someone elses day? Do you think by screaming at someone you cant see will help you get what you want? If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions please think carefully about the question below:

Have you thought about what it might be like to be an employee within a call center?

As a call center employee, I know the perks and also the downfalls of working in a call center.

Check back for the emotional rollercoaster that employees of call centers go through everyday. It may make you happy, sad, and/or mad.

Sneak Peak:
A customer calls in screaming, after I have not changed my monotone voice throughout the coversation she finally states. I'm not a bitch, I'm a really nice person!