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danbat56

This is a question which will have more than one opinion so please read and feel free to give your own.

My job started out working in the call centre for a telecommunications company and answering inbound customer service enquiries, dealing with complaints, sorting out problems, re-directing customers, that kind of thing. It is kind of entry level if you have experience in the trade. I have only been here 2 years but staff turnover is so high that new people consider me an oldie.

Since last year my responsibilities have become "special". Instead of taking inbound calls or dealing with day-to-day customer service any more, my job is more to do with problems which have reached a very high level of concern in the company. Not individual customers who are threatening to stop business and so on, but to medium to high-up managers who officially represent and ambassador their firm, and directly monitor our performance as a service to them.

The opportunity to learn so much is great, the workload is a lot more demanding and results-orientated, and for most people it would be extremely boring. But to me it is interesting, and I hate to toot my own horn but my results are excellent, and it's obvious to me that my work has been picked up on by some very high-up people in the company because the superiors in my own department love me, and there is a real tinge of jealously from others in other departments.

I enjoy the challenge, the learning and not having to do boring customer service every day. The problem is, it's definitely not the job I started out with. On paper I am doing a standard inbound customer service job. In reality, my results are directly responsive to our most important clients. High-up managers will call, negotiate, and deal directly with me on a daily basis, or vice versa.

My company isn't bad, there really is worse out there and jobs don't grow on trees. But come on. Is it standard practice on to have a job where all you do is run around saving your boss's job and only get the same pay as everyone else? Or maybe this just the wrong company for me personally?

BorisThomson

danbat56 wrote: »

This is a question which will have more than one opinion so please read and feel free to give your own.

My job started out working in the call centre for a telecommunications company and answering inbound customer service enquiries, dealing with complaints, sorting out problems, re-directing customers, that kind of thing. It is kind of entry level if you have experience in the trade. I have only been here 2 years but staff turnover is so high that new people consider me an oldie.

Since last year my responsibilities have become "special". Instead of taking inbound calls or dealing with day-to-day customer service any more, my job is more to do with problems which have reached a very high level of concern in the company. Not individual customers who are threatening to stop business and so on, but to medium to high-up managers who officially represent and ambassador their firm, and directly monitor our performance as a service to them.

The opportunity to learn so much is great, the workload is a lot more demanding and results-orientated, and for most people it would be extremely boring. But to me it is interesting, and I hate to toot my own horn but my results are excellent, and it's obvious to me that my work has been picked up on by some very high-up people in the company because the superiors in my own department love me, and there is a real tinge of jealously from others in other departments.

I enjoy the challenge, the learning and not having to do boring customer service every day. The problem is, it's definitely not the job I started out with. On paper I am doing a standard inbound customer service job. In reality, my results are directly responsive to our most important clients. High-up managers will call, negotiate, and deal directly with me on a daily basis, or vice versa.

My company isn't bad, there really is worse out there and jobs don't grow on trees. But come on. Is it standard practice on to have a job where all you do is run around saving your boss's job and only get the same pay as everyone else? Or maybe this just the wrong company for me personally?

Most customer facing companies will have complaints advisers, maybe even an "executive" complaints adviser, who are on the same or little more than call centre advisers. If you think you deserve a pay rise then put together a business case as to why.

xapprenticex

danbat56 wrote: »

This is a question which will have more than one opinion so please read and feel free to give your own.

My job started out working in the call centre for a telecommunications company and answering inbound customer service enquiries, dealing with complaints, sorting out problems, re-directing customers, that kind of thing. It is kind of entry level if you have experience in the trade. I have only been here 2 years but staff turnover is so high that new people consider me an oldie.

Since last year my responsibilities have become "special". Instead of taking inbound calls or dealing with day-to-day customer service any more, my job is more to do with problems which have reached a very high level of concern in the company. Not individual customers who are threatening to stop business and so on, but to medium to high-up managers who officially represent and ambassador their firm, and directly monitor our performance as a service to them.

The opportunity to learn so much is great, the workload is a lot more demanding and results-orientated, and for most people it would be extremely boring. But to me it is interesting, and I hate to toot my own horn but my results are excellent, and it's obvious to me that my work has been picked up on by some very high-up people in the company because the superiors in my own department love me, and there is a real tinge of jealously from others in other departments.

I enjoy the challenge, the learning and not having to do boring customer service every day. The problem is, it's definitely not the job I started out with. On paper I am doing a standard inbound customer service job. In reality, my results are directly responsive to our most important clients. High-up managers will call, negotiate, and deal directly with me on a daily basis, or vice versa.

My company isn't bad, there really is worse out there and jobs don't grow on trees. But come on. Is it standard practice on to have a job where all you do is run around saving your boss's job and only get the same pay as everyone else? Or maybe this just the wrong company for me personally?

whats up with the title? you seem like you are going to delete this post at any moment.

ReadingTim

danbat56 wrote: »

But come on. Is it standard practice on to have a job where all you do is run around saving your boss's job and only get the same pay as everyone else? Or maybe this just the wrong company for me personally?

You're hardly 'running around saving your boss's job' though are you? You're dealing with issues from business customers, high value customers, customers who've complained to the directors of the company personally, and the troublesome serial complainers who want to speak to the organ grinder rather than the monkey. Yes, the people are more important, and you have more latitude to deal with issues than the standard call centre operative, but it's still customer services at the end of the day. As stated, many companies have a high level complaints team who have the power to get things sorted, before they become a real problem for the business - I'm surprised this is news to you.

Aside from the pay, I don't know what your issue is. What you're doing now seems more interesting than standard customer services role, so unless you don't like working in a call centre or dealing with people I'd prefer to do that to sitting on the main call centre floor dealing with routine incoming customer calls. With regard to pay, if you think you're worth more and can demonstrate how you're adding value to the business (by retaining high value customers who were about to leave) then make a case for a pay rise, and threaten to leave if it's rejected.

Unfortunately, when push comes to shove, people often find out to their cost how little companies value them. Most businesses know call centre work has high staff turnover, even when they're located in areas of high unemployment such as the Welsh valleys and the North East and North West of England so don't bother to train, develop and pay people any more than they have to because they know they're not going to work there for very long.

Given you have stayed longer than average, seem to be good at what you do, and have been 'promoted' to doing more important stuff, it seems silly to throw that away. If a pay rise is currently not on the cards, explore training and development (team leader, manager etc) so that you can work your way up: you generally only get pay rises when you take on additional responsibilities or a more senior role, so this seems to be the way to do it.

danbat56

ReadingTim wrote: »

You're hardly 'running around saving your boss's job' though are you? You're dealing with issues from business customers, high value customers, customers who've complained to the directors of the company personally, and the troublesome serial complainers who want to speak to the organ grinder rather than the monkey. Yes, the people are more important, and you have more latitude to deal with issues than the standard call centre operative, but it's still customer services at the end of the day. As stated, many companies have a high level complaints team who have the power to get things sorted, before they become a real problem for the business - I'm surprised this is news to you.

Aside from the pay, I don't know what your issue is. What you're doing now seems more interesting than standard customer services role, so unless you don't like working in a call centre or dealing with people I'd prefer to do that to sitting on the main call centre floor dealing with routine incoming customer calls. With regard to pay, if you think you're worth more and can demonstrate how you're adding value to the business (by retaining high value customers who were about to leave) then make a case for a pay rise, and threaten to leave if it's rejected.

Given you have stayed longer than average, seem to be good at what you do, and have been 'promoted' to doing more important stuff, it seems silly to throw that away. If a pay rise is currently not on the cards, explore training and development (team leader, manager etc) so that you can work your way up: you generally only get pay rises when you take on additional responsibilities or a more senior role, so this seems to be the way to do it.

Hi and thanks for the reply. What you're saying really contradicts itself; you respect that my responsibilities are advanced and more respectable of higher pay, but then in the other you say that they are not, and that you can't work out what I'm on about. Let's help you out.

Right now our company is drowning in interdepartmental conflict. Most of it is ridiculously childish. The poor performance has caused bad results for our corporate clients. My management has been drowning in complaints and threats of legal action.

I have managed to impress management by improving results massively to certain corporate clients, reducing complaints significantly, eliminating hostility, and generating a friendly relationship again. This requires hard work and spending significant effort and brainpower on extrapolating and identifying problems, then developing tangible, practical and rapid solutions - working with others to come up with them, sometimes going to meetings, spending all day on the phone to some corporate managers, and so on......

My job isn't sitting idle in a chair, "Herro, customer service! -Oh, you're in the wrong department, popping you through" but being left with huge spreadsheets, sudden 1 hour report deadlines, fighting things out in a meeting room, writing up more reports, communicating with extremely high-up level people directly, and so on...

What I'm doing isn't the job any more. It's much more complicated and demanding. NOT that I'm complaining about that at all - far from it. I enjoy having the work and responsibility to perform. But at the end of the day, it's big business. Not even my direct supervisor has the amount of work. In blatant honesty, the person who has my responsibilities the most is the office boss. And I'm doing it. Each day.

z1a

" and I hate to toot my own horn" - You sure?

ssparks2003

If you feel that you are worth more money then you have a couple of ways to deal with it.

1. speak to your LM, point out the extra you do and ask for more money. The only issue with this plan is what is your next step if they no?

2. find another job paying more money elsewhere and then speak with your LM and say you will stay for more money. They could well say no, so find a new job that you are willing to take.

3. ask to go back to doing your original job if they are not going to pay you more. They may or may not give you more money; I have done that in the past and been successful, but i was truly confident that the knowledge in my head was worth it to a company.

Companies do not on the whole go around sprinkling money on staff as their goal is to keep wages low and profits high, they may not even have the scope to increase your wage because of head office direction.

ReadingTim

danbat56 wrote: »

Hi and thanks for the reply. What you're saying really contradicts itself; you respect that my responsibilities are advanced and more respectable of higher pay, but then in the other you say that they are not, and that you can't work out what I'm on about. Let's help you out.

Right now our company is drowning in interdepartmental conflict. Most of it is ridiculously childish. The poor performance has caused bad results for our corporate clients. My management has been drowning in complaints and threats of legal action.

I have managed to impress management by improving results massively to certain corporate clients, reducing complaints significantly, eliminating hostility, and generating a friendly relationship again. This requires hard work and spending significant effort and brainpower on extrapolating and identifying problems, then developing tangible, practical and rapid solutions - working with others to come up with them, sometimes going to meetings, spending all day on the phone to some corporate managers, and so on......

My job isn't sitting idle in a chair, "Herro, customer service! -Oh, you're in the wrong department, popping you through" but being left with huge spreadsheets, sudden 1 hour report deadlines, fighting things out in a meeting room, writing up more reports, communicating with extremely high-up level people directly, and so on...

What I'm doing isn't the job any more. It's much more complicated and demanding. NOT that I'm complaining about that at all - far from it. I enjoy having the work and responsibility to perform. But at the end of the day, it's big business. Not even my direct supervisor has the amount of work. In blatant honesty, the person who has my responsibilities the most is the office boss. And I'm doing it. Each day.

And let me help you out. Despite how wonderful you think you are, your company values you exactly the same as all the rest of the call centre monkeys. Whether this is accidental (ie your pay hasn't kept pace with your changes in role) or whether this is deliberate, there's only one way to find out: ask for a pay rise and say you will leave if you don't get it. You'll soon find out what they think you're worth.

theoretica

The other issue to explore is that of changing your job title - something which distinguishes you from your original role could be very valuable if you do look to apply to other jobs. Some companies are open to changing job titles, others aren't.

mcpitman

OP - how long have you been doing this "new role" for and what ballpark salary do you attract now.


You may find that moving to a complaints role may have a similar salary benchmark in your company so what you are doing is no more financially beneficial than answering phone calls.


In addition, do you get annual pay rises? If so, when is the next one due? Did you get a pay rise this year, and if you did, was this a standard amount or enhanced slightly to recognise your new role?

ThemeOne

Why don't you put out a few feelers to see what sort of role / pay you could command elsewhere, in view of your new found experience?

It will give you something to go on if you decide to go to your management to ask for more money and/or a different job title. As others have advised, don't forget also to have a coherent business case to show how you're worth more money i.e. how much you're saving the company by your skill in resolving these complaints.

Many employers don't value their staff very highly and just try and get as much work out of them for as little pay as possible. Yours may be like that, or they may have simply not given your position any thought.

The fact that you're doing so much more for the same money is clearly starting to play on your mind, and I suspect if you do nothing, you'll start to feel more and more resentful.