Telephone Etiquette For Dummies
10 Things To Remember
I work in an environment that requires me to answer the phone a hundred times a day if not more. I speak to a lot of people in a lot of different situations. If I have noticed anything in the past few months it is that the tense environment in today’s world has caused people to be more demanding and rude to customer service workers. It isn’t always just when they are on the phone either. I see customers getting a lot bolder at confronting workers in person as well.
The first thing I would want everyone to know is that the person who initially answers the phone may not be the one who can fix your problem or answer your question. If I have answered the telephone in a respectful manner and you immediately start yelling at me, my defensive wall will go up and I will be much less likely to help you.
I have read a lot of articles about ways for us to deal with rude people on the phone, but I could not find very many articles giving advice to those rude people on the other end of the phone about how they should treat the customer service workers they encounter. So here, if you are a rude customer let me give you some advice…
One. I get that you are frustrated and upset but yelling at me is not the way to get what you want. If you talk to me in a respectful manner and voice your concerns about whatever it is that went wrong, I will do everything I can to help you and get you to the right person.
Two. I have a record button on my phone and the second you get out of line I am going to hit that button and transfer the recording to the boss. He defends his employees from any and all disrespectful customers. If you cuss at me, he will refuse to service you. Period.
Three. Your account will be red-flagged. This basically means that any worker who pulls your account up in the future is going to see an alert that tells them exactly what kind of a person you are. They will immediately know you to be a difficult customer that no one wants to help. Getting your account red-flagged is not the way to get what you want.
Four. If you are a horrible customer we know that it is a high probability that you are spreading rumors about our service all around town. You think you are giving us a bad name or a bad reputation, but in reality, those other customer service workers at all those other businesses around town don’t like you either. Business owners talk with each other and everyone in town knows how difficult you are.
Five. Sometimes things are beyond our control and we cannot do anything about the situation either. We are just as frustrated as you are. Our goal is not to make your life miserable. We truly want to make it right and service you the best we can.
Six. We are just employees who make piddlings an hour and our boss does not pay us enough to put up with your crap. No one can pay me enough money to get cussed at and yelled at on a daily basis at work.
Seven. What gives you the right to yell at me anyway? The sad thing is, if I yell back at you or heaven forbid, cuss back at you, then you think you can call the boss and complain. Behind your back the boss is biting his tongue and trying to make it right with you, but if you think I am getting in trouble over the matter you have another thing coming. The boss usually calls us and tells us how much of a jerk you were on the phone and he understands why we lost our patience with you. We rarely get in trouble over you.
Eight. When the customer service representative on the phone tries to talk, you need to give us the benefit of the doubt and let us talk. We can probably make it right if you give us a chance. When you keep interrupting us and don’t even let us get a word in edgewise, we simply hold the phone away from our ear and stop listening. I don’t hear half of what you say in those situations. Today I simply hung up on you.
Nine. As soon as we hang up from you or you walk out the door, we are making fun of you. You are not ruining our day.
Ten. People make mistakes. Computers make mistakes. If you got billed for something you shouldn’t have we can fix it. But if you yell about it we are probably going to make you pay for it out of spite. You are not perfect even if you think you are. Customer service representatives are not perfect. Billers are not perfect. No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes.
Yes, this happens daily to those of us who work behind the counters. Having the experience of being treated like crap from customers has made me a better customer. I will never yell at or even get upset with a customer service worker. It is never their fault and I will not stoop to that level.
So what is the way to get what you want? Be a good mannered customer and treat us with respect. Period.
