How a great call can make your day

I used to have lunch with a friend in the city. We’d meet outside the large call-centre he worked in at the time. And when I say large, I mean aircraft-hangar proportions.

 

Work cubicles sat clustered around each other like barnacles on a pier. High, garish wall-hangings towered above flickering computer screens which stretched as far as the eye could see. Each one manned by a call centre agent.

 

When your phone bill is overdue, your drain is blocked or your bank account plummets unexpectedly, this is the place where your call ends up. Blinking on a computer screen somewhere in the throng, while you sit on hold sweating.

 

Of course these staff are expertly trained to handle such calls. To be at your beck and call, keeping your best interests at heart. So why is it that nine times out of ten, making calls to large companies such as these leave you feeling like a nuisance?

 

Agents seemingly motor through their words. They put you on hold while they find someone who can help, read from their computer screens like robots, and rarely suggest even a hint of rapport. Lest perhaps, the next caller reaches the dreaded four minute waiting mark and hang up. After repeated experiences like these, it can wear you down.

 

Why does this occur? Shouldn’t the larger companies with their army of training authorities at their disposal be at the peak of their game? Like sportsmen that move through the ranks to become expert coaches, shouldn’t a wealth of resources instil a loyalty and an excellence unseen in smaller, newer companies? A call to these heavyweight centres should result in a stream of first-class assistance. It’s not always the case.

 

Of course not every call can be a pleasure. But there’s one call I make regularly that suggests otherwise. And that’s ‘Energy Company X’.

 

Energy Company X’s agents are unfailingly personable, professional, warm and friendly. I don’t think a call to Energy Company X has ever resulted in me being transferred to another agent, put on hold or not being provided a completely satisfying answer to my enquiry.

 

Is it because Energy Company X is a smaller operation than say, a national bank? They can afford to not be so rushed and impatient, as the other call centres deal with ‘important’ issues like trading shares and mobile phone deals? Doubtful. Energy providers would be dealing with blackouts and floods; threatening electrical faults and stressed homeowners. Hardly easy calls to take.

 

No, it comes down to one thing. People skills. And Energy Company X has them in abundance. Maybe sometimes a focus on ‘turnaround’ can cause an agent to detach from the task at hand. Calls to ‘Energy Company X’ actually take less time than most, because they always go that extra little step to make sure you’re being treated as an individual. Thus you move more easily through the call, and with less effort.

 

Of course they’re not alone in this ability. But their constant high-quality service means I always look forward to speaking with them. In this age of high-speed technology and equally high-paced turnaround, that is a rare thing indeed.

 

 By Marcus Teague