Life Lessons
What’s In A Name?
……everything.
So the other day, I received a reminder call from one of the companies whose products I have been using for a while now.
“Good morning ma’am, this is Imran speaking from so and so company.”
“Good morning.” (with a question in my tone)
“Mam I called to remind you that the next batch of your products is ready to be dispatched. So if you could confirm the same products I will set it up for dispatch today.”
“Oh, no no no, don’t dispatch it yet. You see I still have your products with me, let me finish this batch first.”
“Okay. Ma’am the product size is such that it should get over in fifteen to twenty days. Are you using your products regularly?”
“Yes I am but they are still not over. Look, I like your products and they are helping me, but I want to finish my existing batch before ordering a fresh one. I will inform you when I need them.”
The problem with this company is that they are extremely impatient and I feel as if they are insecure about their client base. Or maybe they haven’t trained their sales and marketing executives appropriately. Every twenty days I get a call from the company, and this call is preceded by at least three reminder messages on WhatsApp to confirm the shipment.
These people are so aggressive that even when the client is travelling, all they want is to ‘dispatch’ that package, that’s it. I explained to this fellow that I am using them regularly and I wish to continue but he still played the same recorded verses.
“Okay, ma’am, so in how many days can we expect your existing batch of products to be finished?”
His voice had a sense of urgency; all he wanted was to get the parcel dispatched immediately or on a date set by the client. I understood this and felt sad for him. Maybe he had targets to meet, perhaps he was trained that way, or probably it was both.
It was not just this particular executive, but all my previous interactions had the same sense of urgency and the need for a dispatch date to such an extent that they were deaf towards every other piece of information in the conversation with the client.
Their ears were trained to listen to only a set of answers and their tongues were instructed to speak only a specific set of statements. The only reason I was still with them was that the product was helping me and I had made it clear in every telephonic conversation. Maybe that’s why the urgency, God knows!
By now I was beginning to lose my cool,
“I don’t know maybe another fifteen days or so.”
“So then I will set the dispatch date to after fifteen days.”
That was it, I lost my cool, there was an explosion in my head and I wanted to yell
Why don’t you understand you idiot! I am a happy customer and will order your products, just let me use them and finish them at my own pace!
Instead, I took a deep breath, calmed down, and told myself, ‘It’s not his fault, he is just doing his job.’
Then, I spoke in a deep, calm voice,
“Listen, Imran. I am happy with your products, trust me. Just let me finish this batch.”
There was silence on the other side for a few seconds.
“Okay mam, I shall arrange a call back for you after fifteen days.”
This time he was calm, and I felt as if he had finally listened to my words and not just to what was in his head.
I later thought about what worked. What made him sit up and take notice?
I realised it was the personal touch, the taking of his name as if he was my friend or family must have taken him by surprise and must have jolted him out of his loop.
Imagine making fifty calls to unhappy customers and listening to their rantings with a smile in your voice while you try to solve their problems. In most cases, the clients don't even remember your name, you are just a voice, some anonymous voice.
We all receive promotional calls every day, some spam us, some are from companies whose products we use and some are simply bolts from the blue! At the other end of the line, is a human, just like us, who has a name, an identity, a life, a family and this human is simply doing his or her job.
Workplace stress is a fact. The degree to which one experiences it and how it impacts the individual depends on how mentally strong the person is, his background or family life, his financial status and the nature of work one is into.
A study conducted to evaluate the factors affecting the mental well-being of sales employees who handled angry clients revealed that service and sales workers who frequently interacted with angry clients were at a higher risk of anxiety and depression.(1)
Another study published in the Indian Journal of Community Medicine stated that call centre employees were expected to suppress negative emotions such as anger or frustration to create a positive environment for the client. When we add call time pressures, meeting targets, providing good customer service, reading scripted conversations and handling angry or disrespectful clients to this list, the cumulative effect negatively impacts their mental well-being. (2)
This implies that long-term exposure to unkind and hostile behaviours from clients can lead to mental health problems like depression and anxiety among individuals in the service industry.
So the next time you receive a promotional call, stay calm, stay polite, stay respectful and remember that name, use it in the conversation, who knows you might make someone’s day. :)
Citations:
- Park J, Kim Y. Factors that Affect Depression and Anxiety in Service and Sales Workers Who Interact With Angry Clients. Saf Health Work. 2021 Jun;12(2):217–224. doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2020.11.001. Epub 2020 Nov 5. PMID: 34178399; PMCID: PMC8209345. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8209345/
- Raja JD, Bhasin SK. Health issues amongst call center employees, an emerging occupational group in India. Indian J Community Med. 2014 Jul;39(3):175–7. doi: 10.4103/0970–0218.137156. PMID: 25136159; PMCID: PMC4134534. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4134534/
