I just came across an article at Online Recruitment that states that 37% of UK consumers have admitted to shouting at telephone agents over the telephone. Consequently, absenteeism and turnover of telephone agents has increased almost 50% compared to last year.
I think that nobody should accept verbal abuse, no matter who you are. I can't imagine a customer service rep being so rude or unhelpful to a person that the customer has to shout to get anything done (with the exception of AOL when you call to try and cancel service...just kidding).
My advice to anyone who encounters a telephone agent that doesn't seem to understand your request is to express yourself in a very firm tone and be clear about what you want. Most of the time it's a simple miscommunication between you and the agent.
You are right, Maria. No one should have to put up with verbal abuse. I'm glad you made that point. It's interesting that the poll included people who say they've shouted at reps. I wonder how they define shouting. I think it's human nature to both focus on the negative and exaggerate a conflict. A CSR can take 40 "positive" calls with wonderful customers in the morning and have one angry customer who raises his voice. At lunch break, you can bet it will be the one negative call that will be the topic of conversation :)
Posted by: Tom Vander Well | May 7, 2006 6:47 AM | Permalink to Comment