From Working in a video store
Don't:
-Leave returned DVDs on the counter where anyone can grab them up when there is a perfectly good drop box only I can access
-Argue with me that we should have a movie on DVD that hasn't hit the theaters yet (honest to goodness I had someone throw a fit at me that I wouldn't rent the 6th Harry Potter Movie to them when the book had only been out a few weeks)
-Come in minutes before closing for anything short of a return
Do:
-Ask for recommendations
-Ask polity if we have _____ movie after you have looked on the shelves and not found it sometimes things have been returned and not put back on the shelves yet or the cases may be missing and I don't mind checking the computer.
From cell phone customer service:
Don't:
-assume a supervisor can solve every problem there is a very small group of things that an agent can't do that a supervisor can and 9/10 if you're dealing with a tricky situation the answer the agent has come to has come from the supervisor to start with and if it's a basic situation asking someone higher up isn't going to change the answer. as long as the agent you're talking too is trying to help and isn't being rude you probably aren't going to get much from escalating the call.
-call to activate or switch phones from the phone you're planing to activate or switch too or from. just don't, we need a number that's under the battery to do anything I can't tell you how many times I've had someone tell me they are calling me from a land line only to loose them the instant i ask them to look up this number or to power cycle the phone.
-don't be abrasive. this can be hard for some people who have something messed up on their account, something that wasn't done right at the store or their kid ran up $400 in texts on their phone or the last person they talked to was just out of training and didn't tell them the right thing. Being firm or saying that you're very frustrated is fine but if you start swearing or being really hostile even if you've just reached the person who can solve all your problems you are now making it harder for him or her to solve you're problem
Do:
-be patient: If you have a complicated problem it probably can't be fixed in a minute. if you had to wait 50 minutes to reach me it's not because i wasn't answering the phone it's because me and the other reps have been going through call after call with no breaks in between since we started work but there is a que of 100s to get through.
-try the basics: 80% of tech issues can be solved by power cycling. if you do that and your phone is still not working check to see if you bill has been paid. it's usually easy to check online to make sure the bill isn't past due and most system outages will be online there too. if it still doesn't work than give us a call.
-know that you can ask for a supervisor like i said above that should never be a first solution I've had people demand to speak to supervisor and refuse to talk to me only to find out they only wanted to pay their bill something that I or the automated system could have easily helped with. there are some things only a supervisor can do generally if your dealing with a plan that is 10+ years old a rep can't fix it if something goes wrong if you're dealing with billed charges that are legitimately wrong that are more than $200 a rep can't deal with that or if you're dealing with something that has legitimately bounced you back and forth between several departments and that couldn't be resolved. not just something you were transferred for once each department has some new guys or idiots that will transfer without understanding the problem. I know I've had transfers from other departments to "confirm the customer's balance was Zero" and "Because the customer was getting too angry." thankfully in both cases i was able to help the customer but they could have handled it in the other department. However I also once had a reasonable customer trying to solve a problems for months that actually fell right between 3 departments. as I was a team lead at the time I had the abilities of a supervisor and was able to talk with thous other 2 departments and get the problem solved which is something a normal rep would not be able to do.
praise the good. most people are quick to offer complaints when an agent does poorly but you should be just as quick to offer praise. It's called a comp or complement call and most people don't realize they can do it but if you have someone who really helps you than you really should do this. it can help a big deal in promotions and raises but most agents are forbidden to tell a customer about them unless they ask. some customers may not do this as they think they need to speak to a supervisor to give the comp and many times you do but often it's a team lead or a runner that takes that and passes the information on to the supervisor and trust me when someone sees you want a comp call taken they don't mind at all even if they were about to go on break.
Don't:
-Leave returned DVDs on the counter where anyone can grab them up when there is a perfectly good drop box only I can access
-Argue with me that we should have a movie on DVD that hasn't hit the theaters yet (honest to goodness I had someone throw a fit at me that I wouldn't rent the 6th Harry Potter Movie to them when the book had only been out a few weeks)
-Come in minutes before closing for anything short of a return
Do:
-Ask for recommendations
-Ask polity if we have _____ movie after you have looked on the shelves and not found it sometimes things have been returned and not put back on the shelves yet or the cases may be missing and I don't mind checking the computer.
From cell phone customer service:
Don't:
-assume a supervisor can solve every problem there is a very small group of things that an agent can't do that a supervisor can and 9/10 if you're dealing with a tricky situation the answer the agent has come to has come from the supervisor to start with and if it's a basic situation asking someone higher up isn't going to change the answer. as long as the agent you're talking too is trying to help and isn't being rude you probably aren't going to get much from escalating the call.
-call to activate or switch phones from the phone you're planing to activate or switch too or from. just don't, we need a number that's under the battery to do anything I can't tell you how many times I've had someone tell me they are calling me from a land line only to loose them the instant i ask them to look up this number or to power cycle the phone.
-don't be abrasive. this can be hard for some people who have something messed up on their account, something that wasn't done right at the store or their kid ran up $400 in texts on their phone or the last person they talked to was just out of training and didn't tell them the right thing. Being firm or saying that you're very frustrated is fine but if you start swearing or being really hostile even if you've just reached the person who can solve all your problems you are now making it harder for him or her to solve you're problem
Do:
-be patient: If you have a complicated problem it probably can't be fixed in a minute. if you had to wait 50 minutes to reach me it's not because i wasn't answering the phone it's because me and the other reps have been going through call after call with no breaks in between since we started work but there is a que of 100s to get through.
-try the basics: 80% of tech issues can be solved by power cycling. if you do that and your phone is still not working check to see if you bill has been paid. it's usually easy to check online to make sure the bill isn't past due and most system outages will be online there too. if it still doesn't work than give us a call.
-know that you can ask for a supervisor like i said above that should never be a first solution I've had people demand to speak to supervisor and refuse to talk to me only to find out they only wanted to pay their bill something that I or the automated system could have easily helped with. there are some things only a supervisor can do generally if your dealing with a plan that is 10+ years old a rep can't fix it if something goes wrong if you're dealing with billed charges that are legitimately wrong that are more than $200 a rep can't deal with that or if you're dealing with something that has legitimately bounced you back and forth between several departments and that couldn't be resolved. not just something you were transferred for once each department has some new guys or idiots that will transfer without understanding the problem. I know I've had transfers from other departments to "confirm the customer's balance was Zero" and "Because the customer was getting too angry." thankfully in both cases i was able to help the customer but they could have handled it in the other department. However I also once had a reasonable customer trying to solve a problems for months that actually fell right between 3 departments. as I was a team lead at the time I had the abilities of a supervisor and was able to talk with thous other 2 departments and get the problem solved which is something a normal rep would not be able to do.
praise the good. most people are quick to offer complaints when an agent does poorly but you should be just as quick to offer praise. It's called a comp or complement call and most people don't realize they can do it but if you have someone who really helps you than you really should do this. it can help a big deal in promotions and raises but most agents are forbidden to tell a customer about them unless they ask. some customers may not do this as they think they need to speak to a supervisor to give the comp and many times you do but often it's a team lead or a runner that takes that and passes the information on to the supervisor and trust me when someone sees you want a comp call taken they don't mind at all even if they were about to go on break.
