The Daily Blog

I don't get paid to think

2nd February 2006  Post a comment

More and more I find that people have the attitude of "It's not my problem" when it comes to their job. Usually it is not the big brand-orientated company employees as much as you would have thought, because the company knows that the slightest slip-up can bring tons of bad press and damage their image - so the staff undergo lots of training to make sure they are nice to customers.

I think the ever-increasing reliance on technology doesn't help the problem. Take the other day for example, I rang up My Favourite Magazines (note the ridiculously long web address) to enquire about a lost edition of T3 Magazine- the answer was "Sorry, the database is down until February sometime". Not totally their fault, but very annoying that absolutely nothing could be done without the database.

Even more annoying are foreign call centres, which take jobs away from people, and put money into the economy of whatever country the call centre is based. It sends the message to me that the company doesn’t really care that much about customer service, but would rather cut costs.

Apple and Google are just a few new high tech companies which are changing this old fashioned way of doing things. Work hours are much more flexible, the environments are fun and colourful - all this leads to happier, and therefore more motivated employees. Let's hope other companies see the successes of this new attitude to working and rethink their "we have to do it, so let's do it as cheaply as possible" attitude to customer care.

- David Longworth

2 Comments

  1. Allen | 8 Feb 06

    The problem sprouts at a even more fundamental level. When working as a customer care rep, you're dealing with repeating problems and issues. It's easy, nay, imperative to be desensitized to their job. Reps mustn't take criticisms personally otherwise it will impede productivity and the quality of their work. However, as a product of this, Reps are also void of much genuine care for the customer.

    Sometimes, talking to a customer care representitive can be excruciating because they don't share the same level of frustration you do. But if they did, would we all benefit from it?

    I have encountered an incident where a customer care rep cared too much (just today at Officeworks, in fact). The rep was wrapped-up trying to serve this customer pick a printer. Without going into detail, the customer took up a good 10 minutes of the rep's time and ended up making his own mind up and disregarded everything the rep suggested. Meanwhile several fellow customers including me wanted to ask a quick question and move on with our lives.

  2. David Longworth | 8 Feb 06

    Good point, Allen. If there is one thing that really annoys me it's reps which hassle. I just want to say "I know what I want so leave me alone!" but of course that would be a bit harsh - they only want to help and earn their 10% commision!

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