Irate calls and How to deal with it
I’ve been in the call center industry and customer service for nearly what? Four years? I’ve had my shares of frustrations and have been on the receiving end of cuss and curses thrown my way. Do I still get affected with the jibe and constant screams directed at me by the customers? Of course I do. I am but human (sniffs). Do I take the baggage home after I left the phone? Of course not. Why should I? What I do is work. That is that, nothing personal. I just hope that you are good in dealing with job related stress.
Getting calls from frustrated customers comes with the territory. As the cliché goes; you can’t please them all. There are times that you get commendations from a call and get a supervisor call on the next. It’s not your fault, it’s just the luck of the draw (In your case, it’s the luck of the queue). Unless you as a customer service representative is really annoying or is in the habit to frustrate calling customers (I recommend you go look for another job if you do)I could say; it is not you they are frustrated about. So If customer called in and say “*&^#^^$@^)&^%## F*ck You ^%$#*&@#%” , They are actually saying “F*ck the company you are working for!” , If the customer say “Shame on you for doing this!”. They mean “shame on the company you’re working for, for doing whatever it is that they did” and if the customer say “You suck” they mean…? Can you guess? That’s right, The Company you work for suck. Well it doesn’t mean that it’s true, but they are entitled to their own opinions, and it is your job as a customer service representative to change that impression or at least try to.
Working as a CSR means you serve as a buffer between the company and the customer. In layman’s term its means you are the shock absorber. Sad to say that the customer acknowledges no buffer, for them, you are the company. The company’s fault is your fault, the company’s product is your product, and if they have some questions they ask you, if they are frustrated and angry they it’s you they vent it to. It’s as simple as that.
I kept a list of some nasty and insulting remarks that customer have thrown at me during my on-phone days, here are a few of them, I also included the reply that Quality Analyst (QA) are expecting from you and also I have included the answers that I could have said if allowed. Here it is:
Customer: You’re an idiot.
Accepted reply: I’m sorry you feel that way.
Deep inside you’re saying: If you have half my brain you wouldn’t be calling customer service right now. Stupid!
Customer: You guys are not helpful at all. Is there somewhere I could go or do I need to talk to someone else that could better help me?
Accepted Reply: I am sorry for the confusion, I would be glad to go over the step with you again.
Deep inside you’re saying: Sure, Go get the product box and look for a printed material with the label “Product Manual” that’s a good place to start.
Costumer: You guys are cheaters, scum of the earth. How could you sell me this kind of product, it’s so complicated to operate. I think I already damaged it because you guys are too freakin genius. Where can I send this back? I want it no more!
Accepted Reply: I’m sorry for the inconvenience, let me tell you our return policy… Also I will be giving you the number of the department that can assist you with the return of the product.
Deep inside you’re saying: Why did you buy it in the first place you moron!
Customer: Okay so what do I need to tell those guys from the other department?
Accepted Reply: Just tell them what you told me.
Deep inside you’re saying: Tell them you are so stupid to own a complicate product like that.
You see. In our line of work being insulted comes with the territory. It’s frustrating that you can’t shout back or lash out to the customer. That frustration adds to the stress as if working at night is not enough to give you a sure win raffle ticket with aneurysm for a first prize already. Thankfully there is such a thing as a mute button, (I tip my hat to the genius who thought about it). One push at that mute button and you’re free to tell the customer what a jerk he/she is (because sometimes or most of the time, take your pick, you really need to say the words). Pour out your anger, it is good for you. Just make sure you are on mute. And also make sure that when you decide to blurt out that anger, you won’t do it in a way that all the people around you could hear it. Anger like that has a very uncanny way to rub off negative energy to other people. So you also need to be considerate. You could whisper- Whisper like you really mean it. After saying those words that are not meant to be heard by the customer, press the mute button again and apologize for the inconvenience. That’s right, we have to do that. You can’t run away from the call. You can drop the call but that customer will call back again, more frustrated that before and other agents will be taking that call and they will be the recipient of another name-calling, humiliating, and ear-busting call. And that is because you ran away from it. So please don’t. A gain, you can press the mute button and whisper you anger back but don’t ever drop the call. Take ownership because it’s your job, you get paid for it. By the time that you can’t control your anger anymore and you begin releasing calls then that’s when you know its time to walk away from the game. The call center industry is not for the thin-skinned. At the end of the day, you will realize that after all the bad calls; there are good ones on the bunch too. And those good calls resulted to happy customers, assisted by pinoy agent, the best CSRs in the world.
