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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: December 10, 2002 You're Welcome? -- "I've been noticing an alarming trend lately among our customers, and perhaps other call center types are getting it as well. Help me confirm or deny that it is a global effect. In the last month or so, more and more of our frequent customers are hanging up immediately upon receiving the information they called for. They are skipping the customary polite "thank you" step of the transaction."
Reader Comments...
It's not suprising that people are becoming less civil in their dealings with customer service reps. Companies have invested a lot of time and effort in customer relationship management projects that have minimizing the cost of dealing with customers as one of their main goals. This often results in customers having to go through phone hell before they can talk to a human. If you put your customers on hold for 20 minutes, or send them through voice response system circles, you're telling them to "f*ck off". Is it really a shock that customers don't say "thanks" for that? Posted by: jorge on December 11, 2002 10:17 AM
Perhaps the reason people aren't saying 'thank you' is that the whole call centre experience can be so appalling that you don't feel particularly grateful to the people who made you go through it. Also, people who have been put on hold for a long while may feel that every second has become precious and they are inclined to end the call as quickly as possible. Another possible explanation: perhaps we see call-centres as an inhuman or 'computer-like' medium (a bit like getting search results from a search engine). You put in a request, or information and expect to get results. When you get results you quickly move on. It may be easy to forget you are dealing with a real person as a lot of the conversation is scripted or mechanised. Sherlock_yoda Posted by: sherlock_yoda on December 11, 2002 12:19 PM
If you have to wait for 5 or 10 minutes to get a half-arsed answer are you going to be all warm inside. Also call centers today are trained to try and cross sell at evry oppoortunity - why hang around for that?
If you have to wait for 5 or 10 minutes to get a half-arsed answer are you going to be all warm inside. Also call centers today are trained to try and cross sell at every opportunity - why hang around for that?
Funny, I've noticed a similar trend lately with telemarketers. Several times over the past year, when I've said I'm not interested, THEY have simply hung up on ME! Maybe they've been influenced by George Bush's policy of pre-emptive strikes ; ) Still, it's a disturbing trend... Recently, though, I did hang up on a customer service rep in anger (I'm usually polite to them). It was with Ameritech, and the reps there are actually salespeople in disguise. I was requesting information but kept getting sales pitches. Finally I said (basically), stop the sales pitches and just send me the information I've requested. The guy literally proceeded with yet another sales pitch as if I hadn't said anything. I hung up in anger and have yet to receive the information in the mail. Posted by: Virgil on December 11, 2002 04:40 PM
How about a system where the computer rings you up and puts you on hold? How do people feel about this? Last month I missed my credit card payment. A few days later, my phone at work rang and I picked it up only to hear a recorded message saying something like "Please stay on the line for an important message". Just as I was reaching to hang up on the telemarketers (so I thought) there was a human being there telling me I'd missed the payment. I remember once before getting a call like this and hanging up on the computerised message several times before a human being finally called me. Surely that defeats the purpose of the system. I suppose if you're missing your payments often enough you get used to the message and that time on hold gives you the chance to come up with an imaginative excuse... I dunno, seems inefficient to me. Also seems to increase the likelihood of the call centre person getting an earful of abuse.
In response to the last post by JGT, I think what is going on is that those companies have a [relatively] small pool of phone operators, and they have computers dial out customers' numbers like crazy. The second a customer actually PICKS up the phone (as apposed to NO PICKUP or ANSWERING MACHINE), the phone call is forwarded to either 1) a phone operator (that explains the short pause, in some cases) 2) a FIFO "waiting list" or queue (that explains the "please hold", in other cases). I would say that this is a very clever idea (from a get-a-hold-of-the-customer standpoint), BUT, on the other hand, I also think that it is INCREDIBLY RUDE to call someone and IMMEDIATELY put them on hold (or make them wait). So, in effect, I think whatever efficiency that this method yields is negated by producing an unhappy customer.
I am surprised that anyone would think it is okay to be rude simply because you are put on hold for an extended period of time. If a representative is polite, informative, and assists you with what you called to do, you absolutely owe them a "thank you" irregardless of how long you had to wait or what hold music you had to listen to. Inconvenience is not an excuse for not having good manners. Even if they couldn't help you, but they were polite and concerned, good manners would be to reflect that civility. In the case Virgil pointed out above, the person he was talking to was not responding to good manners (i.e. his attempt to ask him to stop with the sales pitches and just send the info he wanted), and would not acknowledge what he said. In cases like that, hanging up is preferrable to calling someone else hurtful names. Also, Virgil, it might make you feel better to know that often these reps do not want to sell you anything, but the marketing department has decided they will "cross-sell" other products in addition to their customer service duties. So, often these people are not salespeople, but if they don't cross sell, they don't get a raise, and could get fired. I've seen this happen too many times. These are the people who robotically read off sales pitches and push on even when people ask them to please shut up, please. From their POV, they don't care because they are being made to do something they hate and they know customers hate, so if there are enough complaints, maybe management will wise up. Wow, sorry for the book, but this one perked my ears up! Posted by: Lydia on December 13, 2002 03:03 PM
Another Satisfied Customer? My early training (programming?) makes it nearly impossible for me to hang up on a customer service rep, especially one who has just finished helping me (hopefully) solve a problem with his or her company's product or service. However, my inability to be particularly courteous to a sales rep does tend to mount in direct proportion to the following: 1) Annoyance level of the problem I could go on and on and on...(And remember, we haven't even gotten to the help request yet...) Now...do you really wonder why people hang up after talking to you? My guess is, they're FREAKIN' FRIED! My advice is, try to find a job with a company that doesn't put their customers through an endurance test to get help or support for a product that should work right in the first place! Sincerely, one who patiently awaits the return of customer service... Posted by: Toni on December 13, 2002 11:02 PM
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