Call centres.
The 9th circle of hell. A place where young dreamers are introduced
to the harsh realities of human existence. And yes there are many disadvantages
to working in the customer support industry. However, in my experience I have
found that you can put a positive spin on almost anything. Here are some of the
benefits of working at a call center.
1 Being employed. Usually a call center is the last
resort of the desperate graduate. Sure it
might suck, but at least you are usually doing regular hours
and have a steady income. Anything is better than unemployment. Being unemployed can cause all sorts of
mental problems like depression and low self-esteem. Earning a wage, even a low one, can give you confidence in yourself. Maybe you’re not ecstatic about
sitting in a chair all day, but it’s better than sitting in an armchair in
front of the TV contributing nothing to society.
2 Sitting down. Following on from that, I know there are disadvantages of sitting down for 8 hours a day but there are also benefits! For example, a lot of us have swivel chairs which can
result in hours of twirling fun before the chord from our headset gets tangled
and possibly wraps around our necks. I won’t lie, I have also been prone to a slight
bout of motion sickness after such sessions. So those are two things to watch
out for while you’re having fun; throwing up and accidentally choking yourself.
3 The staff. Having a great job must be really fun.
I’m sure the people who work in fun jobs all get on very well and spend time
together outside of work too. However, there is no greater bond than that
between customer support agents. All that it takes to bring people together is
to have a common enemy. In this case, we unite over our mutual hatred of the customers! Is there anyone worse than a customer? When they’re angry they’re
mean, when they’re happy they’re patronizing, when they’re confused they’re
frustrating. The question isn’t; “Is the customer always right?” The question
is; “Is the customer EVER right?”
4 The stories. Following on from the previous point,
does anyone have better stories than call center employees? When you go to
fancy dinner parties, or (more likely considering your salary) take a trip to McDonald's with some friends, who has the best workplace tales? You! Nancy from River Island tells a gripping tale about someone who tried to get a discount with
an expired student card. Nice try Nancy! That’s way funnier than the time I had
to explain to a guy on the phone why his order
of a Hitler-themed USB key was cancelled! Or the many confused and scared
customers who call in because they have received a turtle hat from an
anonymous sender through our company. But your story was good too Nancy, what an emotional rollercoaster!
5 Anonymity. I realise that the experience of
dealing with customers on the phone every day can be soul-crushing and
extremely exhausting. But that is the key point. You are dealing with them on the phone! They can’t see your face,
they can’t physically assault you in any way, and sometimes they can’t even
hear you! While you’re making reassuring sounds, saying “I am so sorry for any
inconvenience this has caused you” and groaning sympathetically down the line,
you can also be rolling your eyes at a colleague and clenching your fists to
vent your frustration. The customer doesn’t know! You can be pretending to look up their account while actually texting a
friend to vent about the stupid conversation you are having!
6 Technical difficulties. I
know how you’re feeling right now. The minute you see those words your eyes
light up and a wave of pure joy washes over you. Oh no, the phones are down! Oh
no, I can’t access my emails! Oh no, the whole internet broke! Time to enjoy a gossip with your desk neighbours while pretending to try
to find a solution to the problem. “Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Hmmm. Pity Becky isn’t here, she’d know what to do. But she’s not here. Because
she’s taking some time off. Nine months to be exact. What, you didn’t hear? The
father is sister’s boyfriend – crazy, right?!” Ok, maybe the gossip won’t be
that juicy but either way you don’t have to interact with customers so have
fun!
7 Bullshit. Sure, you’ve been trained, but situations will
arise that you wouldn’t, maybe couldn’t, have ever been prepared for. We all know there comes a time when you
literally don’t have a clue and it is time for some Oscar-worthy bullshit to
appear. It might be something simple like “Email us if the website still isn’t
working for you by the end of the week”, or a slightly more elaborate
explanation; “The reason the website isn’t working is because you just upgraded
your Google chrome which means that the html is blocking our cookies so you
need to clear your cache through the network settings, then uninstall the newest
upgrade, and bathe in a lake under the light of the next full moon.” Either
way, so long as you sound confident the customer will just accept your
suggestion as fact.
8 Passing the buck. When your lengthy bullshit explanation
doesn’t cut it with our savvy customer you will probably hear the most
beautiful phrase in the English language; “I want to speak to the manager”. The
customer thinks they are playing their best card, and beating the system
somehow. Little do they know that the manager has had the same training as you
and is most likely going to tell them the same thing you did. All the customer is doing is
letting you off the hook! If your manager is nice you know they’ll understand
that this isn’t your fault. If the manager is mean then sending them a furious
and self-righteous customer is a tiny form of revenge! Maybe rile that customer
up a little bit more before transferring the call by saying something like “We are
NOT grateful for your call”. Victory!
9 Schedule life. Some call centres are stricter about
clocking in and out than others, but most will have some kind of timetable that
you have to stick to. Sometimes this even involves having scheduled bathroom
breaks and getting in trouble for going one minute over your break time. I know
it can be hard to see the positive side of having every second of your life
monitored in this way but having this kind of discipline can help you become a more
organised person in everyday life! Furthermore, you can make a game out of making
it back to your desk and logging back in at literally the last second of your
break. What a true sense of accomplishment when you sign back in at 12:59:59.
10 The
customers. I know they’ve
come up in a few previous points, but I’m talking about the customers as
individual people. The ones we love to hate; the thorns in our side; the bane of
our call center existence! Sure, when you get an angry one it can put you in a
bad mood for the day but what about the rest? I’ve had so many really
interesting, funny and genuinely enjoyable conversations with customers. Often
they know they are the ones to blame for the situation and just want to see
if there’s any way we can help. Or, they are angry just because they’re
having a bad day, and once you’ve calmed them down they are really grateful.
And what about the really sweet ones that want to talk to your manager just to
praise you!? Yes there are a lot of ignorant, selfish, inconsiderate people out
there, but if you only focus on the bad experiences you miss out on the positive
human interactions you have every day!
At the end of the day this job is probably just temporary. Keep searching and dream big!
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