On an average day I’d say I take about 100-150 calls, depending on the time of year. I have been at my call centre for almost 5 years and handled almost 400,000 accounts. (Those are official numbers, I checked my stats this week. In reality, it feels as if I’ve taken about a million). The intellectual levels of some of these people leave much to be desired, and while it severely irritates many of my coworkers, I can’t help but laugh. There are some ridiculous comments I hear repeatedly, while others stand out from the crowd. One of the calls I took this week is a perfect example of this. This particular customer had made a payment to the account and it was showing as paid on his online banking website, but our systems showed we hadn’t taken a payment. We’ll call him Mr. Jones. This is how the call went: Me: I apologize, Mr. Jones, our records show that we have not received a payment since November. If you did make a more recent payment, we’re going to have to ask that you fax us in proof that the funds have been taken out of your account.
Mr. Jones: Well it’s right here on my computer.
Me: That’s great sir, so I’ll give you the fax number where you can send the proof to
Mr. Jones: Yeah but I’m looking at the payment right now, it’s right there and I’m looking at it. Why can’t you just put down that I’ve paid it?
Me: Mr Jones, can you see my computer screen right now?
Mr. Jones: No, of course I can’t
Me: Well then how am I supposed to be able to see yours? I need you to fax me the information
Mr. Jones: Because it’s RIGHT THERE ON THE SCREEN!
This is probably the point where a lot of people would start to get angry, but I just laugh it off. I think it’s because I know I have to sit there and take the calls regardless, and getting angry over it will affect my ability to do my job.
Ventana Research did a study showing that 60% of call centres rely on the agent to assess the customer’s satisfaction. This means that regardless of the mood I’m in, I need to remember not to let anything affect the way I do my job. In the last 6 months, I’ve had 8 Customer Satisfaction surveys completed on me (which is about average for part time reps) with every single one being 100%. That says more to me than any other stat measurable.
At the end of the day, it depends on how you look at the situations. I could let these people bother me and go home crying at the end of every day like many of the people I see working (and quitting) my company, but I believe that job satisfaction comes from how you choose to deal with the difficult situations.
(Ok, and it makes for great blogging material too)
http://www.ventanaresearch.com/research/category_new.aspx?id=1045
