Watching Will Smith verbally abuse Woody Harrelson in "Seven Pounds" reminded me of this past column....
Once upon a time the toll-free customer service number was a truly great idea. Customers who needed a little hand-holding while assembling their furniture kits or trying to figure out their insurance policies could easily make a long-distance phone call for free -- wow! -- and talk to a knowledgeable expert -- cool! But over the years, things have changed.
Now almost every company boasts a toll-free number that customers can use to get “help” -- but most of us wince at the thought of having to call it. Because more often than not, the customer-service call is a direct line to pure frustration.
Corporate cost-cutting has wrought havoc in the form of automated phone trees that frequently don’t offer what we need; off-shore accents we often can’t understand; overworked call-center agents who’ve usually been insulted and yelled at five times in the past hour; and computer systems that are inevitably creaking, (“I’m sorry, ma’am, the system is slow today”), breaking, (“I’m sorry, ma’am, the system must be down today”), or mysteriously out of whack with each other (“Ma’am? It’s saying here that your balance is zero. Are you sure you received a bill from us?”).
It’s enough to make us all hit the roof -- and unfortunately, it often does.
It’s impossible to find statistics on how many customer service calls involve rude outbursts on the part of the caller, but Web sites like CustomersSuck.com make it clear that we’re not always on our best behavior. Yelling and swearing are common, as are condescending attitudes, insults, and even threats.
Sure, we’ve got a problem we’ve got to deal with. Yes, we’re perturbed when we get non-answers and non-help. But the truth is, when we take our frustrations out on call center agents, we’re barking up the wrong tree. For every agent who has to tell us “No, I can’t do that” and every customer who’s left throwing the phone against the wall, there’s somebody far, far away who’s actually responsible for the problem -- but who’s too busy counting this quarter’s stock options to care.
Believe me, if yelling at a customer service agent were an effective way of stickin’ it to da man, I’d be all for it.
Luckily for us, call center agents are generally not allowed to raise their voices or swear at customers, no matter how heated the discussion gets. They’re trained to calmly repeat information, politely listen to us rant, and continue trying to help. And until we can figure out how to really fix the problems at hand -- the companies that make breaky products, the project teams who don’t believe in usable documentation, the pervasive cheaper-faster mentality -- maybe we should all take a page from the civil-behavior playbook.
As tax day comes barreling down this year, many Americans will find occasion to throw up their hands in disgust, heatedly dial the IRS hotline, and get snooty with anyone who can’t provide help in an immediate and apologetic manner. And the agents -- who have so many stressful calls this time of year that they’ve probably been relieved of their belts and shoelaces for the entire month of April -- are expected to react to these harangues with service and a smile.
It’s time for new approach. Let’s all vow not to get unpleasant with the next customer service agent we talk to, and remind ourselves that the person on the other end of the phone is, well, a person -- and not the one who’s responsible for our woes. Let’s promise ourselves that even if the agent starts to get a little defensive (after all, it’s been a hard day), we’ll continue using phrases such as “please,” and “thank you,” and “I know you’re not responsible for causing this problem, but I’m hoping you can help.”
Practicing our most arrogant demeanor and offensive attitude might feel good for a moment, but we all know it’s not a viable solution. What we truly need to do is calm down, think clearly, and save our energy for something that could really do some good.
Like solving the problem we had in the first place. Or stickin’ it to da man.
(This classic Miss Communications column was originally published April 6, 2007.)
