Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Philippine Call Center Agents’ Bad Reputation: Deserved or Not?

Call center agents conjure up images of annoying callers selling you stuff you never even knew existed, robotic disembodied voices who asks you how they can help but eventually after an hour, you find out they can’t do anything for you, callers who call in the middle of the night asking if you’d like to change carriers and so on . There’s no denying the stigma attached to the call center industry. I’d like to examine the matter to see if call centers, in particular, Philippine call center, deserve this reputation.

http://www.tctecno.com/images/headerleft.jpg
Philippine call center

Is that all they are? I don’t think so. When you book a flight, a hotel or resort, you speak to an agent. When you have something to clarify or ask something from a company, you are more likely going to be directed to a call center. Agents have been given a bad reputation because of some parts of their job. But what customers sometimes forget is that these call center agents are people, too. They are not all the same, they have different personalities and chances are they haven’t met you before so they do not dial your number just to annoy you. They are just doing their jobs.

I have great respect for the call center agents who are courteous and sincere in wanting to help customers. I’ve had my share of frustrating encounters with call center agents but in those cases, I’m more irate at the company itself than the poor call center agent I’m talking to.

Philippine call center agents are particularly delightful to talk to because generally speaking, Filipinos are respectful, kind and polite. They are less likely to be sarcastic and apathetic because they are raised to be God-fearing and obedient. Actually Filipinos are generally shy but their call center training develops their self-confidence allowing them to communicate effectively even with foreigners.

We could be a little more courteous when we receive calls from these agents. A little dose of positive karma always helps.

0 comments: