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.

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.

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!