Calling all call centre workers - advice needed!

sosheadset

whitewing wrote: »

See if you can listen in to a colleague's calls for half a day. They won't be able to control who comes through to them so if they aren't in tears it is because they are handling things differently. You will learn a lot from a good colleague.

I usually take 6 weeks to get used to a new role.

I had two whole days where we sat and call listened. I was paired up with different people - two each day, four in total. They all handled the calls like pros and made it look really effortless. The calls they got ranged from very simple to highly complex (often involving fraud, ect) The customers ranged from absolutely lovely to flirty to downright rude. It was all enough to put my head into a spin but the people I sat with just seemed to act like it was no big deal. But then again, they'd all been there for around 3 - 5 years.

They told me it gets easier but it's easy to just that. Especially when they've been there that long. I guess what I wanted was for someone in my position to empathise with me. Someone who was relatively new and feeling the way I felt. It's easy to forget how tough it is when you first start.

Most of the people I speak to at work conveniently seem to forget what it was like when they first started. But then again, they have been doing this for a while and I should just trust them and have faith that it will get easier. Easier said than done, though.

I hope I feel more confident after 6 weeks. If I do, I'll be so much happier.

DKLS

My mates wife now works in a banking call centre and loves it, however she started call centre work answering phones for the ambulance service, which had its share of aggressive prat calls and people calling on one of the worst days of their lives.

sosheadset

EndlessStruggle wrote: »

I used to work in inbound sales/customer service for a catalogue company and had a woman scream abuse hysterically at me because I couldn't work out what the "pink thing on the page here" was. Wouldn't give me a code, a page number, just the pink thing and there were pink things on practically every page... You have to take the good with the bad in any call centre, some calls will make you want to cry, some will make you laugh and smile. It's the nature of the business. You'll soon forget about the bad calls and work out your own way of dealing with them out of the work environment

I hops so! Especially since I'm ridiculously sensitive. I just need to toughen up and not let the bad calls bother me and amuse myself with the nicer ones.

Wow, I cannot believe how some people act on the phone. Fancy having a screaming fit when you don't telepathically know what she's referring to! Sounds like a nightmare customer. Sorry you had to deal with that

sosheadset

Whiner wrote: »

Well, I worked in call centres for 5 years, and I can tell you something for nothing - unless I was utterly desperate for work, I'd never do it again.

I don't think it gets easier, but you will get mentally tougher (you'll need to), and you'll get used to being rude back to the customers. As far as I was concerned, once they'd been rude to me without provocation, I was quite happy to be rude back.

As far as career progression is concerned in a call centre, forget it - unless you are exceptionally lucky, call centre jobs go nowhere.

I hope I get tougher fast! I've always been one of the more sensitive ones and I think that has me at a slight disadvantage in this job. I've worked in a flower shop where everything was always rosy - excuse the pun! I've also worked in retail where the store's clients were mostly of the older generation - I was never once screamed at or even spoken rudely to. So all these angry people on the phones is very new to me!

As far as progression goes, there is so much potential for this call centre. I work at the HSBC one and I've met so many people who've left the role I'm in now to do bigger and better things. People are always getting promoted and being accepted for internal jobs higher up. Now that I've got my foot IN the door, I'm desperate to stay here and work my way up. I'd be crazy not to because this is something I've been looking for - not a call centre job, per se. But a way IN - if that makes sense?

sosheadset

Whiner wrote: »

So, when they are rude, what you do is this: "Oi, hang on a minute, I'm trying to help you and you are just being rude. I'm treating you with respect, you treat me with respect please". Once you've shown that you won't take any krap, pretty much all of the time they will stop being rude.

That will take some doing on my part! I'm the type of girl who wouldn't say boo to a mouse. I need to be way more assertive in order to respond like that. And I realise it's something I'm going to have to eventually do - for my own sanity.

sosheadset

Whiner wrote: »

Which reminds me of a story when I used to work for a call centre in town, for a giant high street bank. Which Andy Crosby managed to almost make bankrupt, but thats another issue.

My very first day, and my very first call, was something like this:

Me: Hello, welcome to reallycrapbank, Cuthbert speaking, how can I help.

Customer: I SPOKE TO YOU LAST WEEK, AND YOU TOLD ME... AND NONE OF IT WAS TRUE...

Me: Well, considering this is the first call I have ever taken in this job, what you've just said is at the very least somewhat unlikely, and to be quite honest I doubt you've got a clue who you really did speak to, but nonetheless I'll try to help you anyway.

Customer: Um, er, ah... yeah, um.. well, um...



****************

So, to the OP, see it as a game... use your wording wisely, and see if you can make the rude customers feel really stupid. After a while, you'll be begging for a rude one, just to brighten up the day!

Haha, they must have felt ridiculous! I'll remember that. I'm naturally polite but it'll just be a challenge to do that when I'm speaking to a rude customer. I'll try and stay calm, speak politely and remember your story!

sosheadset

pmduk wrote: »

Yes it does and just think of the variety you get. You never know what the next call might be! Just give it time before deciding it;s not for you.

Thank you! I was never really going to quit. Like I've said to a few other people, it took me ages to get this job and I've seen proof of progression to other, more better roles with the bank. Now that I've got my foot IN the door, I don't want to leave. I want to stick it out for a year and then try applying elsewhere internally.

I just wanted people to tell me that it does get easier (and give me their honest thoughts) because right now, I feel terrible about it. So thank you. x

sosheadset

DKLS wrote: »

My mates wife now works in a banking call centre and loves it, however she started call centre work answering phones for the ambulance service, which had its share of aggressive prat calls and people calling on one of the worst days of their lives.

Oh my god, I can see how much worse that can be and it also probably toughen her up and prepared her for the banking one. I'm glad to hear that she's enjoying it. I hope I can feel the same way about it soon!

Thank you for your input, it gives me hope! x

brightonman123

sosheadset wrote: »

Thank you! Great ideas. I've just started making them today. At 2:30 today, I sort of gave up. My manager could see I was upset and told me to spend the afternoon off the phone and get myself more familiar with tariffs, procedures, ect. So I began making up little sheets to remind myself what I need to do for each query (bill payments, security, direct debits, ect) I'm sure this will help me in the long run until I can become more confident.

Does it ever start to feel like second nature? The people who I work with make it look so easy.

Thank you for the tips. I just need to remain calm and try and not get upset. I'm sure it's nothing personal and that the customer is more frustrated with the system rather than me as an individual - but it's so easy to forget, especially if you're new.

Thank you xx

no one should be let loose on the public, until they have training for basics of the job!

Whiner

Well, OP, whatever happens I do wish you the very very best of luck!

It sounds like you have got the break that you personally were looking for, so I'd be very reluctant to leave before you've given it your best shot. If after, lets say, three months then its still not for you, then fair enough you've given it a go and no one can blame you if you decide its not for you.

Now that you are in the door, as you said yourself, you'd be crazy to not give it your very best shot (and I am sure you are doing just that!).

Listen, my advice to you today is this: People are not all nice. You will get lovely people, and you will get idiots. Most people will be inbetween the two. If you get someone nice, enjoy the call. If you get an idiot, just be aware that its the system they are upset and frustrated with, not you personally.

This is my tip for sanity in a call centre though: If someone comes through to your headset, and starts screaming (literally) before you've had the chance to say anything, just press the "release" button. And snigger like mad that they are now probably so angry that they are having a coronary!

And NEVER forget: Don't show any respect to anyone who doesn't show you respect right back.