twit-twit..twit-twit... text message!

I just want to share with you a text message (SMS) from Coach Sol...

midnyt coffees.
bday pizzas.
accentuated english.
dashing clothes.
irate customers.

so much money,
so lil time.
late nyt parties.
sunrise beer.
crush on coaches.
fyt 4 appraisals.

diehard friendships.
tears for love.
nothin missing,
just everythin.

people call it callcenter,
agents call it LIFE....

:Þ

Go ahead, copy it and forward it to your friends....

Thank You!

I'm back from my day off, and I was bit surprised about the number of visitors my blog had. Considering it's just been 12 days since I started this blog, the response from you, my readers, have been overwhelming.

To be honest, I tried to join blog community websites but unfortunately, my application have been rejected, so, I rolled up my sleeves, and I did some texting (sms messaging) to some friends, and luckily, they showed their support one way or another.

Rest assured that I'll be updating this blog as often as I can.

Again, thank you and hopefully this will be the start of our long journey together.

Weekender

It's summertime and it's time to leave your workstations, just for a couple of days. Time to rest your weary ears and tired voices, drop those headsets, forget about the metrics, time to get rid of those eyebags, leave the stress behind. As for me, I'm off for the weekend. I won't be getting a tan, but the much needed rest, away from it all. See you when I get back!

An Appeal To Our Valued Customers

I got some mixed reactions with my previous post. I labeled it as “callcenter humor” because come to think of it, it was one funny call. What's funny about it is that both parties aren't communicating at all. The agent insisting that the customer should provide account information first while the customer is demanding the resolution of his issue at once. Man, the customer's really irate. Imagine figuring out how to shut down a laptop for two hours and what it takes is just to press down the power button for ten seconds. I can't help but laugh at the end of the call.

But seriously. I do commend the agent though for being so cool. He could have just answered the customer's concern at once but no, he has to follow the callflow. Hahaha! For us agents, we receive those calls everyday, if you're lucky, even every hour.

To our customers/callers, it's our procedure to ask account information for the security of your account. We know that “customers are always right”, but hey, you don't have the right to cuss or insult agents. We know how frustrating it is when you are having some problems with the product or services that you paid for, we “empathize and sympathize” with you, but that doesn't give you the right to yell and swear at us. Agents are here to help you, that's our job. Remember, we are assisting you OVER THE PHONE. If you do not want to talk to us because you think we can't speak English, politely ask to be transferred to somebody else. We understand you need to vent out your frustration, but not to the point where you insult, malign and belittle us. We need to verify your identity first, probe about the issue so that we can provide you with the right solution. As agents, we are always reminded to “think like the customer”. Reality check, we are also customers like you. We do encounter same issues like you have.

We should all realize that we live in a civilized society. As humans, we have manners and values and that separates us from animals. We should show each other respect, whatever the situation is.

Just a reminder, if you're in a restaurant, never do that to a waiter. You may never know what “ingredients” might be mixed with your food.

Oh well, some customers really have attitude problems. Some are racists, have big egos, psychos or just plain morons. But if you're just having a bad day, take a walk first before you make that call.

Disclaimer: I am not the agent on the call, I do not work for DELL, I just got the link from YOUTUBE and it was posted months ago.

Thank you for calling....

When To Move On

Our employment in a call center company is like a relationship with your girlfriend. Time to break it up when you find a better one. Hahaha! (Just Kidding!)

Leaving your company? Whatever the reason may be, I'm pretty sure it's valid and well-thought of. One of the main factors for this decision is the PAY or SALARY. We all know that times are hard. Imagine, 1 kilo of rice at 40 pesos. All prices of goods are spiraling high. Transportation cost and gas are also heading north almost every week. Companies who offer non-competitive pay will have high attrition rate. With lesser qualified agents around, companies should rethink about their compensation packages in order to keep their agents. It's more expensive to train new agents than to maintain them. I know one person who just enjoys attending the trainings, but when it's time to hit the floor, he resigns. But that's another story. Which reminds me, there's this company who has a different way of computing their employees salaries. For example, in their job offer, the monthly gross salary is P17,000. When the new employees get their payslips and paychecks, they're shocked about the computation for their take-home pay. It's their hourly rate times the number of hours they worked during the cut-off period. At the end of the day, their monthly gross is just P14,000 less deductions, so they'll just have P6,000 on their ATMs. Unfortunately, this was not explained at all during the JOB OFFER. As a result, agents who felt mislead or, for lack of better term, TRICKED, resigns. Is this legal? I'm not really familiar with the labor code, although I must admit, it's our duty to know our RIGHTS under the LAW. In any case, the employer just wasted money on training these agents.

There are also instances of pay disputes. We've heard a lot of "horror" stories about this issue. Companies should realize how difficult it is to be an agent. The shifting schedules, the metrics you have to keep, the office politics and stress of making all your "customers" happy no matter what. We've heard managers giving us lip service, "you, the agents are the frontliners of this business" so why not give what's due to us. For companies whose earning millions of dollars, why can't you fix the PAYROLL?

Like I mentioned above, there a lot more issues that agents have to face everyday. But the bottomline is, as long as the PAY is good, the other issues are more bearable and something we can live with.

Just a reminder fellow agents, we need to SAVE for the rainy days. SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!

Don't get me wrong. I'm not angry. I'm just making a point. Agents move on when there are more reasons to leave than to stay.

Bakit Marami ang Call Center sa Pilipinas

According to ME in no particular order.

1. Magaling tayo mag-English - Ang kakatawan

sating bansa ay si Janina San Miguel sa Miss

World.

2. We are more "American" than "real

Americans". - Sobrang updated tayo sa POP
culture nila, sports, current events etc.

Imagine, hindi pa napapalabas sa sinehan mga

movies nila, napanood na natin. Salamat sa

mga pirated DVDs sa bangketa.

3. Naubos na ang mga Indian agents. Wala na

sil ma-hire na agents, kasi sila na may-ari

ng mga BPO companies.

4. Sobrang inspired tayo sa "call handling"

ng ating Presidente. Remember "Hello Garci"?

Sa galing ni Ate Glo, lusot sya sa mga QAs

(senado at kongreso)


5. Mahilig mag-telebabad ang mga Pinoy.

6. Second phase ng World Domination plan ng

mga Pinoy. Jessica Zafra once wrote that we

deployed nannies at DH to other countries to

brainwash minds of the kids of the powerful

people in the world.

According to me, part ng plan na yan ay being

in control of their credit cards,
telecoms and financial records. We are the

new World Superpower! Hahaha!

Job Menu

Gone are the days when you only have limited choices when it comes to call center jobs. The BPO industry here in the Philippines is rapidly growing. Other companies in other parts of the world are investing their money on our shores. Aside from US accounts, European and Australian companies are also making their presence felt here in our country. It means we don't have to endure graveyard shifts because other accounts coming in have similar timezones with what we have. That's good news to all of us, we don't really need to leave our country to look for better paying jobs. More companies also means more competition. Better offers and better deals.

If you want to work on a dayshift, you should apply in Orchids in Ortigas, Acquire in Shaw, Confabia in Eastwood, 24/7 and Citibank in Makati. These companies handle Australian accounts. Just to remind you though that their job offer is not as competitive as US accounts.

A lot of us are already tired of handling calls. Most accounts now offer Email and Chat support. Try applying in Transcom in Ortigas, TP in EDSA Crossing, Convergys in Makati and Sykes in Ortigas. Some of these accounts are also on a dayshift.

Most sites are also upgrading their facilities. From in-house gyms to daycare centers, open bars to entertainment centers. More state-of-the-art equipments, from AVAYA to Cisco systems, flat screens to LCD monitors.

At the end of the day, there's no such thing as a perfect account and a perfect shift and a perfect company. Let's admit it, we always find something to complain about. It's up to us agents to find our "special seat" on these companies, that will make us stay, work hard, earn big and be happy. Happy hunting and hopping mate!

Agent Double Aux Seven

Matagal na tong graphics na to. Kung sinuman ang gumawa neto, maraming salamat. Repost ko lang uli, astig eh..

And the WHINER is........

It's been long overdue! I've always planned on putting up this blog to share my misadventures and misfortunes. The purpose of this blog is for me to blow out some steam and de-stress myself while working in a call center. I'm not saying that working in this business is all that negative. Me positive side din naman. I know there are a lot of competent bloggers out there focusing on this subject matter

but it wouldn't hurt if I joined the bandwagon right? Sabi nga nila, the more, the merrier!

Is it just me? Or kayo din? I mean, if you are currently employed in a call center company, be it as a Technical Support Representative or Customer Service Representative, are you TRULY HAPPY with your JOB? If YES, then, good for you, if NOT, welcome to the CLUB mate!

There are a lot of issues that agents like me and you encounter. From pay disputes to illegal terminations, to mandatory OT's to cancelled breaks. Lahat tayo naka encounter nyan. Isama mo na syempre yung mga politicians, power tripping QAs, TLs and Shift Managers.

I'm an agent and I am proud of it. Mahirap ata ginagawa natin. The "sh*t" that we have to put up with everyday. Forgive my French. Hindi pa ko napopromote. Siguro dahil hindi ako nagtatagal sa isang company. Common, maraming gaya ko. To be honest, yung iba, nag eenjoy sa paglipat lipat, yung iba naman, napipilitan lang dahil hindi masikmura yung pamamalakad or yung account mismo ng dating company. Marami pang alibi na pwedeng sabihin, pero definitely, hindi naman ako ganun kabobo para hindi mapromote. Hindi pa lang siguro time. Hahaha! Palusot pa eh.

Nagtataka lang ako, sa dinadami dami ng call center agents, wala pang organization or union na naitatatag. Kung meron man, hindi ko pa naririnig. Just in case you know one, kindly post it sa comments. Kung wala pa, I think it's about time. Mas magiging"relevant" ang ating trabaho kung tayo ay member ng isang organization. That is to professionalize our career as well as to give us a voice in this dynamic industry. Remember guys, ang isang callcenter hindi makapag operate kung walang AGENTS, but can operate without the support and administrative personnels. Kelangan din naman natin magtulungan para proteksyonan ang bawat isa. Let's face it, walang mang aapi kung walang magpapa api! Agents UNITE!!