Survey Feedback

Survey is one of the means the company tend to improve their product or their system. In a call center, this is represented by Voice of the Customer (VOC) or Customer Satisfaction (CSat) survey.

The survey customer answers are usually related on how an agent handled their concern and how willing are they to recommend the product to their friends and how long or how many times did they call before their concern was resolved. But of course, not all concerns can be resolved over the phone. There are instances wherein they have to be physically present at the store to have their issue resolved.

When I was interviewed before in a call center, the question the recruiter ask me, “What is the difference between customer service and customer experience?” My answer is, “Customer service is how you handle their concern while customer experience is how they felt after you have process their concern.”

Companies are competing one another to endorse their product. Because of this, they have to lure customers to knock on their doorstep and ask for their service. One Telco company is offering the same product as the other but why is the other Telco company has more customer than the other? It could be that the advertising is better or the customer service is better.

But Starbucks didn’t spend money on advertising yet their coffee is selling like hotcakes. The reason for this is because their customer service is better. For a coffee that has a price of 100 pesos above, well, it really make sense that the customer service will be that superb. They represent money leaving your pocket! This is how our brains are being tweak to buy something.

It is also on that “tweak” process where you can get good customer service feedback. “People prefer to hear lies,” tell them the truth and they won’t accept it or the worst part, it’s like you open a “Pandora’s box” and release all the evil within it thus you will oftentimes hear in a call center, “You are opening a can of worms.” But it is also on that “sugar–coated lies” that a cell center is surviving its operation. Customer will continue to call back because that is the easiest way to resolve their ignorance, frustration and manipulation. Thanks to that part of the brain that is prone to manipulation. To survive in this industry, primary requirement ang makapal ang mukha mo magsinungaling!

But all of us are customers. In fact one call center is named as “All People Are Customer” prior to their merger and acquisition. And when you comprehend a lie suddenly you have an insecurity within your armpit already. You know that one of this days you will be comprehended a lie too. Si Ate, nakapila sa Jollibee at biglang umeeksena na rin ng mga banat na, “that doesn’t make sense” na attitude. Or si Kuya tumatawag sa Globe, at umeeksena na rin ng “I know your job so don’t fool me.” Ginagawa mo eh, ginagawa din sa’yo. Karma is truly digital nowadays!

Building rapport is a taboo if you are working in a call center in the 90’s. “Transactional” is the norm. If you are transactional nowadays, you are labeled as stiff and uptight. It is also in this “building rapport” that you get the customer “buy in” or it will get you. You will get the customer’s buy in to give you good customer survey or the customer will get you by saying, “I like your accent, you have the same accent as my boyfriend.” Flattered by that statement, you are now being conned and the next thing is, can you waive this charge on my bill? But if you are transactional, they wouldn’t be able to request you that.

I once get a zero score from a customer and the customer states that I wasn’t able to resolve her concern. My TL was then mad at me because I pull the score of the whole team down. She then made a return call to that customer and tried to satisfy her. At the end of the call, hindi niya na–resolve yung customer issue dahil imposible yung pinapagawa ni tanda! Did the TL gave me a feedback? Of course not, kasi kahit siya walang magagawa. There are incidents like this na aalatin ka talaga kahit ginawa mo na lahat. Those who are getting good surveys, tignan mo din kung san yung deficiency nila sa metrics. It could be that their AHT is high or their NCH is low or their Transfer rate is high and the reason why they are passing the metrics is because the percentage either for VOC or CSat is high thus it tends to pull their scores up. Those who have Popular Sanguine personality, 99% yan na nakakakuha ng matataas na survey. This are the so called “customer service material.” If you want your site to have good CSat score, hire ONLY those who have Popular Sanguine personality, bubulusok yung scores ng Site mo diyan. On the other hand, papatayin naman niyan yung profitability nung site mo sa absenteeism, AHT and Incentives. These are CSat champions na nakakuha palagi ng incentives and if you are giving away incentives as a primary motivator, palabas ang pera diyan!

There is also an incident in another call center wherein there is no week in a row that they are losing their grip as number one when it comes to VOC survey. Palagi silang number one. Even the site abroad, hindi sila matalo. Until the secret was revealed! Hmmmm! Nagde–delete pala ng disposition ng calls na mga pangit para hindi ma–survey. But of course, no secret is forever a secret. The next thing you know, the account was pulled out. There are also agents who are deleting disposition in their call history if they could already sense that it will not result in a good feedback. As one of my colleague says, “that’s the only way to survive.”

There are also some calibration that is being made when it comes to VOC or CSat survey. In one of the calibration that I have listened to, it was participated by one OM, three TL, one SME and one agent we listened to one call then the OM said, what is the best part of the call? What could have made that call even better? And when everybody provided the score and the average of those scores was just barely passing, the OM then said that that call made a perfect score on part of the customer. The customer doesn’t want “beating around the bush” and he found a representative who is uptight and transactional and they are a perfect match.

There are also instances wherein during a calibration or coaching your TL will tell you, “you would have scored higher, if you sound perkier or if you just credited this amount or you build rapport” but those “hypothetical” statements doesn’t really translate or quantified to be the real factor behind a survey. There isn’t one single recipe to ace a survey because different people has different demands. Those demands could be mundane to hilarious.

When Feudalism was replaced by Capitalism, “producers of goods wanted to have less service at a higher price while consumers of goods wanted to have more service at a lesser price.” And the Father of Capitalism is the United States. Callers who are calling a call center are all consumers thus they wanted more service at a lesser price. It is of no wonder that if their bill is high, they will call. If there is an outage in their area, they will call. The psychology which is indelibly written in their neuron is “somebody will fix that for me” is there as always.

Now, producer of goods and consumer of goods must meet in between in order to resolve the opposite direction they are moving in. That is when VOC or CSat will take place. Capitalist (i.e, businessman) will pass to another person the “risk of the business.” Consumers on the other hand would toss away “risk of the business.” Someone should absorb that “risky business” then. That is where you are going to enter the scenario as Customer Service Representative. You are the “shock absorber” of the business. It is of no wonder that those giant Telco companies, Media providers and investment banks are all outsourced here. See the picture!

There was once a parable. A villager wanted to sell his donkey to a market. The market is a bit far from his home. On his way to the market, the villager rode on the donkey and the people criticize the villager because he is too heavy for the donkey to carry. So, the villager then strap the donkey and pull him on their way to the market. The people who saw the donkey again criticize the villager because it mess the hair of the donkey. When the villager finally got to the market, the donkey looks tired and messy thus nobody wanted to buy it. Moral of the story, “You cannot please everyone, IF YOU DO, you lose yourself.” That is the same feeling you will feel if you are in this industry. Sometimes you will find yourself lost as to where you are going to further position yourself.

Job Security is Dead

Your life cycle in a call center usually starts as an agent.

That is your stepping stone for higher position.

Consider yourself loyal if you have been on the same call center for fucking three years!

Dapat yung isang bay dun sa floor niyo ipangalan na sa’yo!

In 1989 Tim Berners–Lee invented the internet. When he invented the internet, people all over the world began to be connected virtually. That started the so called Information Age. Prior to 1989, we are on the Industrial Age. Industrial Age is when steam engine was invented which give rise to machinery and when machinery was invented, businessmen created jobs for the people who will work for them. This is the age when those who are academically gifted was put on a pedestal for their profession. This is also an age where people stick to one job for the rest of their life.

We are at the Information Age now.

In the information age, we become digital. Even “karma” becomes “digital”!!! Can you believe that?

This is an age where people hop for jobs. This is an age where even before you graduate from college, your skill is already obsolete! Everything is dynamic! Everything is fast–changing! As the saying goes, “The only permanent thing on earth is, CHANGE” thus it’s normal to change jobs nowadays!!

In the Industrial Age, companies has the moral obligation to take care of the “future” of their employees. Employees will stick to their job since after all when they retire, they will get their separation pay. In the Industrial Age, labor unions are legal. In the information age, social networking becomes the norm.

In the Information Age, companies has the moral obligation to make sure that their employees are paid on time. Seldom nowadays that there are companies who provide salary delayed. If they did so, expect your workforce to be gone the next day!! Since separation pay is no longer the trend nowadays, it make sense that you ask for a higher salary. The money is already upfront because they don’t have to invest in your “future.”

There are those call center who offer retirement benefit after five years of service. But that retirement benefit will commence on the start of your sixth year and there are those BPO’s wherein their trick is this, hahalukayin nila lahat ng pagkakamali at the beginning of your employment up to your fourth year or so, that way, they have a reason to terminate you. You should be cautious of those phony type of promise. If you will analyze it, for four years, that means that they were able to fully utilize all the skills that you have and the amount of money they provided on your salary was already compounded with interest and to capitalize on your future further, sino ka? That is the million dollar question!! Napiga na nila lahat sa’yo, basura ka na! Alalahanin niyo, ang mga Filipino, sanay sa crab mentality! Kakantahan na lang kita ng kanta ng Linkin Park which goes like, “I tried so hard and got so far but in the end it doesn’t even matter….”

There are those also who wanted to grow with the company but the opportunity doesn’t permit them to do so. Say for example, gusto mo mag–apply maging Team Lead. You know that you have the character to lead a team but you have a corrective action on file. That corrective action on file could be a wrong procedure you have done or a customer complaint na deadlock situation na kahit na Operations Manager eh walang magagawa. That corrective action on file will be wiped out after six months then after six months nagkaroon ka nanaman ng corrective action on file which will last for the another six months eh di one year ka na sa pagiging agent. If you have the ambition to climb the ladder, technically, napagiwanan ka na. And if that is the case mas mabuti pang lumipat ka na lang sa ibang call center where you will start fresh and at the same time you will experience a different account.

Given this scenario, it is very apparent that JOB SECURITY IS DEAD.

If you are in this profession, you just need to know how to shield yourself from the drastic changes in your workplace to secure your future.

First, make sure that you learn to invest your money. And when investing something, that means that that is something that appreciates in value. Kung bibili ka ng iphone o laptap, after two years can you sell it 30% higher when you bought it? Definitely not so therefore hindi investment yan. Remember also that the obligation of your company is to make sure that you are receiving your salary on time. They are not obligated to make you rich. Tandaan niyo rin ‘to, “walang yumayaman sa pagiging empleyado.” Kung gusto mo yumaman, mag–business ka or become an investor! Kasehodang Operations Manager ka o Vice President ka ng call center na kumikita ng 100k a month, empleyado ka pa rin na puwede sipain anytime the company wanted to. If investments such as T–Bonds, Stock Market, Real Estate or Blue Chip paper doesn’t ring a bell to you, good luck on your future! Kung three times a week, naka–Starbucks ka, i–calculate mo sa isang buwan kung magkano lahat yon whereas kung nilagay mo sa Stock Market and have it compounded for interest baka sa interest lang nung shares of stock mo eh kahit araw–araw kang mag–Starbucks di pa mauubos yung pera mo.

Second, make sure that you check your SSS and PhilHealth contribution. Yan na lang ang galansiya na mahihita mo sa pinagputahan mo sa trabaho mo!! Para naman pag naging Senior Citizen ka eh may pension ka kahit papaano. As for your PhilHealth, make sure that it has contribution as well. If you are a type of person who smoke five times a day and who finds Quaker Oats disgusting to eat, isa ka sa dapat na naninigurado na may contribution ka sa PhilHealth. San ka pupulutin kapag na–stroke o embalido ka na?

Third, manage your life and your lifestyle. It’s not just the financial, social or professional life that matters on this earth but also your spiritual life. In this industry, maraming aso, maraming maangas, maraming ahas, maraming inggitero. Never be influenced with the social values of traitors. They smile at you but they are doing something else behind your back. If they did that to you, be the better person. After all, karma is already digital!

Fourth, if you will be transferring to another call center, it doesn’t make sense to tell the truth why you leave your previous job. “People prefer to hear lies.” If you tell them the truth especially if it is awful, chances are, they will not give you the job. One of the beauty of group interview is you tend to hear the story of other applicant and merit your answer on your succeeding interviews. Remember also, that when you sign a contract, you are bonded to the company for a specific period of time, some even has a “training bond” but that contract becomes null and void when you fail on your metrics or when you didn’t pass the training.

In the Information age, your only hope is yourself. “You” is the best investment. You need to take care of yourself. You need to be smart professionally but you need to be street smart as well. Gone are the days with the saying “Graduate ako ng ganitong school kaya dapat mas malaki sweldo ko.” In fact, if you sit side by side with another person without asking what school they graduated, you could no longer distinguish who are graduates of prestigious schools. We are all on the same level now.

Top 10 Business Oxymoron

Following is lifted from Manila Bulletin which was written by Ruben Ancalan, Jr. entitled The Top 10 Business Oxymoron which could be a helpful insight for Site Directors and General Managers in the call center industry.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines words that are apparently contradictory. However, the truth is that the oxymoron may or may not true, or is a mixture of both. In business, oxymoron are plenty and it takes some sophistication to discern its actual meaning.

Some people think that in business, oxymoron are just a play on words with no use or relevance to actual work. But those who take the effort to understand their implications will be better placed to navigate the complexities of business. Get started with these common oxymoron:

Easy delegation. Since delegating a task means giving the job to someone else, it is but natural to expect that it should make your life easier. This is both true and false. True, properly done, delegation will lessen your workload and free up time to focus on more important matters. However, delegation is a skill that is not mastered. There will be countless challenges and not everyone is up to the task.

Business ethics. Whether or not this is an oxymoron is debatable. There are those who believe that it is not possible to succeed in business without some ethical transgression. On the other hand, many people are convinced that having an ethical reputation is the foundation of any business. They say that nobody would like to deal with somebody they cannot trust.

Job security. A long time ago, it was not unusual for a person to spend his entire career in a single company. Even if there were better opportunities elsewhere, people rarely changed jobs unless the offer was truly astronomical. Unfortunately, such situations are much less common nowadays. Job security even in large companies is by no means guaranteed. One of the most serious threats to job security is the trend towards outsourcing. Since companies are no longer that paternal to employees, in return, employees are more likely to engage in job hopping since many think that job security is a thing of the past. Those who long for job security will have a better luck with a government position.

Zero defects. For many years, I was unconvinced of the wisdom of this oxymoron. I was more a believer in Murphy’s Principle, which states that “what can go wrong will go wrong” than the seemingly foolish quest for perfection of Zero Defects. However, there are situations where people respond better with Zero Defects than with Six Sigma, maybe because they understand the concept better; but nevertheless, the results are what matter. I am still skeptical on a generalized application of Zero Defects, but if some companies are able to benefit, then it is not all bad.

Riskless investment. Nowadays, even US Treasury bill, the gold standard of conservative investments, have lost their AAA credit rating. But even before this, it has been a given that there are no riskless investments. Thinking that a certain venture is a sure thing has cost more bankruptcies than could be counted.

Moving target. This means that objectives are continuously changing, usually to meet higher standard. What do you do if the target is moving? Learn how to anticipate competitors’ moves. Always try to be at least several steps ahead. Realize that with the possible exception of monopolies and oligopolies, everything in business is a moving target.

Going into business for yourself. This is probably the greatest oxymoron. It implies serving yourself when the focus should be on taking care of your customers. It conjures unrealistic expectations of easy money when the reality is very hard work for an uncertain reward.

Working vacation. Usually this applies only to business owners since there is hardly an employee that will agree to such arrangement. A working vacation is no vacation at all since at any given point in time, you may be interrupted from your revelry. For a vacation to be genuine, only critical emergencies should be entertained. On the other hand, the opposite is preferable; you could take advantage of a business trip to have some rest and recreation.

Healthy competition. Normally, competition means less sales and profits since you have to share the market. So what does healthy competition mean? If you are the established business, you would tend to think that any competition is not healthy. But if you are the incoming competitor, you would interpret healthy competition as levelling the playing field so that you would have a better chance of ousting the current market leader.

Friendly takeover. Even if the takeover has the blessings of both the top management of the dominant firm and the acquired company, employees must be prepared for the worst. In almost all cases, there will be layoffs. This is not due to any malevolent intentions on the part of the management. It is just that there will be redundancies and moves to cut costs. Employees better play safe and anticipate the potential risks to their position.

The Ideal Trainer

Trainers play an important role in the success of the campaign in a call center. Transferring skills and information based on hands on experience and learning how to simulate it to another person is a very big challenge to any person who opt to become a Trainer. It is because every person has different learning curves. There are people who are so called visual learner who learns by demonstrating to them how a certain procedures work and there are those who are instructional who could follow a certain documented procedure.

Do you have what it takes to be a Trainer?

Let us see the checklist necessary to become a Trainer.

Patience. You will oftentimes hear this in a call center that “Patience is a virtue.” Others, will say that “Patience is a talent.” In whatever punch line it is, as a Trainer, you have to be patient. One wave will come and go and you will constantly meet new faces every now and then. Most Trainers stick to their job because of the fun of meeting new Trainee and getting to know them and the story of their life. Trainees has different personalities as well, meron diyan na mareklamo, meron diyan na tahimik, meron diyan na hindi mo mapulsuhan kung naiintindihan ka o hindi, meron diyan na hindi makasunod thus as a Trainer you have to be flexible to all those kind of variables. You cannot be “kung ano sinabi ko. Period. Intindihin mo!” because remember that it is your credibility and efficiency which will be at stake if your Trainees are not responding to you.

No grumpy mood. As a Trainer, huwag ka masungit. There are those who are really slow learner and there are those who will ask question simply because lumalandi lang pala! You have to be neutral all the time. There are those who are sensitive to criticism thus you need to adjust to their needs by learning to be discrete on how you give feedback.

Superb product knowledge. You should be a product of the production itself for the said campaign. There are call centers who are externally hiring a Trainer who after being certified after one month of training, they have the decency to call themselves “Trainer” whose competence is really questionable. “Experience is the best teacher” as the old adage has tested it. If those who are in production has the propensity to commit mistake and they are learning from that mistake, what type of learning was it for those whose knowledge is purely theoretical? If you become a Trainer who is once an agent for the same campaign, raise your head up above the rest!!! You have the right to do so! Huwag ka mahiya!!

Highly organized. You can’t afford to be a scuttle bug if you are a Trainer. The organization of your thought as well as how you deliver it should all be synchronized to create a better understanding on your Trainees. You have to be systematic on how to correlate one information to the other and what are the implications that will happen if a certain procedure was not followed. You should be able to put your brain into the head of your Trainee and verbalize their thought where the two of you could meet at a certain level to develop a better understanding.

Flexible. Teaching methods are vast. There are a lot of methods you can think in order to liven up the class. If you are a “Powerpoint Queen” who will have an oration in front of the class, some of your Trainees will fall asleep.

These are just five of the most basic characteristic you should possess should you want to become a Trainer. The greatest fulfillment you can achieve as a Trainer is to see your Trainees eventually be regularized and become like you or even better.

Call centers should also give Trainers the opportunity to be trained abroad or sort of “exchange program” where they will be sitting in a similar class abroad just to be able to assimilate the best practices done by counterparts in other parts of the world and replicate the same practices locally.