Working on the phone, taking incoming calls from prospective buyers can be both entertaining and bizarre at the same time. This kind of job takes someone with patience and tolerance for a gamut of calls, from friendly to downright hostile. It is important to stay polite and personable towards the customer at all times. This can be hard when dealing with people who are yelling at you. Customers are generally decent and kind, but there are always a few who have anger management problems, and can freak out over minor misunderstandings.
Every day, I sign into the phone and computer system for my job, electronically from home. I am a home agent, and work in my office, taking sales calls for a large magazine publishing house. Customers call in to buy magazines, then for a variety of reasons, are unhappy with payment terms or other issues, such as returns. They then have nobody else to take their frustration out on, so you are their most convenient target.
As a matter of fact, you are the target for just about anything. Heavy breathers, prank phone callers, hecklers, and more will call in. And we smile and talk to each and every person with respect and dignity, even if they don't do the same for you. It's a matter of going with the flow and realizing that the customer may be having a bad day, or is mad at the promotion, but he is not at you personally.
When confronted with a customer who is purposely being mean, my response is to let them rant then continue trying to answer his question. By being persistent, calm and mellow; the customer rants alone. Eventually he gets tired enough to give up and either listen or get off the phone. Many of us home agents talk to each other by instant message over the internet. It helps us to keep our sanity, and morale going during tough times. We compare notes on people who were really nice or really difficult and learn from each others' experiences. It makes the day go by faster and reminds us that it's only a job and not to get stressed out by it.
If a customer is in distress, there are times when it is our duty to help them in whatever way that we can. I have a list of phone numbers to refer people to for things like domestic violence or food assistance hot lines. Working with the public, we do our best to please and help them. Some just need a friendly ear to talk to. Though each call I take is monitored, I take the time to talk to anyone who is having trouble. Many of my co-workers do to. It is our way of appreciating our customers. They are the reason that we have our jobs and put food on our tables. It is our job to be there for them.
Being a phone customer service agent isn't for everyone. If you enjoy talking to people, figuring out problems and helping those who need it, then this job may be for you. After three years, it has helped me to pay for college and allowed me to work from the comfort of home. Gone are the days of buying coffee from a vending machine or listening to loud co-workers in the next cubicle. Life is good, especially after hearing how tough some of my customers' lives are, it makes me appreciate my relatively stress-free routine all the more.
