QA wise, this has not been a good month. QA averages are down all over the call center. I've had to send more escalated calls this month than I have in a long time: and the majority of those are for the one thing I despise: following up with the customer. Why? How can so many people forget? I mean, there's so much they can use to help them remember: even if they have to super glue a post-it on their foreheads (well, okay, maybe not that) but, come on!

I don't know what else I can do to get the point across. We've sent emails: we've given suggestions on how to keep track of callbacks: it's up to them. I believe sending an escalation for this is so stupid, because it's something they can control. I hate doing this for something that I feel is so simple.

The QA scores are another story. In themselves, they don't give the whole picture. So many people have less than 100 because they haven't followed policy: but they have still taken care of the customer to the best of their abilities. Maybe that's another project to be taken on.

I'm hoping to get a survey done of our customers based on our current QA metrics. We've done surveys in the past, but never one like this: I believe this survey will do more to impact the way we do business than any other. Going back to the previous paragraph: does the customer really care if we say the whole scripted thing at the end? Does the customer care if we blatantly ask them to hold? Isn't letting them know that we need to make a call to another department and asking them to bear with us for a moment enough? What does the customer want? The customer wants to be helped. They want to be listened to. They want to feel like they are a part of the solution. They want to feel included and know what you are doing to solve their problem. That's what we need to concentrate on. We can't have the scores tell one story and the actual calls tell another.

SQUEE! I'm in the QAQNA Mug Club! And I got my mug today. Funny thing: I don't drink that much coffee. So I'm going to put my mug in a very special place and share a water toast for the Coffee Time Links.

Thanks for the honor, Tom!

I'm so excited! I get to start a project tomorrow, and I really hope I can get a good bead on things our CSRs need to learn. I wanted to do something to pinpoint individual and group problems that our reps may be having. Yes, it's going to be a good bit of extra work, and will involve a lot of data compiling, but it will all be worth it. I'm glad Excel is my friend.

How important in the life of the call center is the voice of the customer? The VOC was an unspoken point of debate the other day between another employee and myself. Basically, I had taken a deduction that was being disputed. The CSR had done everything that she had been told to do, but my opinion was that she could have done more. I heard that customer at the end of the call. She had something that she needed desperately, and at the end of the call she said she would call a competitor for the product.

I can understand that people want the best for their teams. I really do. I was a CSR, and I would want someone to fight for me if I knew I was right. But the customer's defeated attitude at the end of the call told me that she was not happy, and that is my main focus. There was more that could have been done. That customer could have been satisfied. Then again, it could have been such a day that nothing we could do would make her happy. I've had weeks like that. But because other options weren't offered, I will never know. And that seriously hurts.

Remember, call centers may be big: but gee whiz, we do have to sit close to each other. Cubicles are close together, and some of us have severe perfume allergies. Take it easy, huh?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,535501,00.html?test=latestnews

34 Taken to Hospitals After Woman Sprays Perfume in Texas Call Center

Thursday, July 30, 2009 Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas — At first, fire officials suspected that carbon monoxide or some other toxic fumes had sickened almost 150 people at a Texas bank call center.

It turned out that perfume was to blame.

MedStar ambulance spokeswoman Lara Kohl says 34 people were taken to hospitals, 12 by ambulance, after reporting dizziness and shortness of breath Wednesday at a Bank of America call center in Fort Worth. An additional 110 were treated at the scene.

Fort Worth fire Lt. Kent Worley says the incident started with two people complaining about dizziness after a co-worker sprayed perfume. Others reported being sick when an announcement was made that anyone with similar symptoms should exit the building.

Investigators do not know what type of perfume was sprayed.

I have located the epitome of bad customer service, courtesy of my children's school system.

I went in today to ask for two affidavits. Our school system requires a ridiculous set of checks and balances to ensure that no child from another district attends the local schools. They have a button on their website that you can press and fill out a form reporting out of district students. If you live in the district, but do not own a house or rent an apartment, you must fill out an affidavit for each child. This is a form that must be notarized and returned to the school before they will assign your child to a classroom. For anyone that enrolls their child using an affidavit, this also includes a visit by the local police department to prove that you live where you say you do.

Back to the story. I went in to ask for the affidavits, and was told, "I'm sorry, but you can't pick those up until registration." Our children have been in this school system for 6 years. I work, but we live with my husband's mom because he is her full-time caregiver. When I asked why, she said, "I don't know: I'm new here, but it's just policy."

Those dreaded words - "just policy." It means they have no clue what the reason is, and they hope you won't press them further on it. I have tried so hard to be a part of my children's school lives. I have offered to work with the PTA. I have spoken to or emailed principals and offered assistance. I have filled out the form that the teachers send home every year where they ask for classroom help and have never had a return call. Not once in six years in this same school system.

I have more complaints, but I will just leave it at this. I hate being made to feel like an unwanted, unwashed heathen just because I do not own land in the city. I am just as much a citizen of this town as anyone else, and like it or not, I have a say. And if they have no clue why they have that policy, they need to sit down and review it so they can give people a decent explanation.

Dude! You're going to... Wichita???

http://consumerist.com/5320315/ups-sends-your-monitor-to-gladys-in-wichita-dell-tells-you-to-pick-it-up-you-live-in-boston

This poor guy. He ordered a Dell monitor to be shipped to him in Boston. That's in the North East. The monitor was shipped to someone named Gladys in Wichita. That's in the Midwest. These two locations are over 1,600 miles apart.

This is a classic example of the good old pass the buck strategy. UPS tells the guy to call Dell and have the package forwarded: Dell says they don't do that, and it must be UPS's fault because Dell has the right address on file. UPS then asked him to come pick up the package at their service center. In Wichita. Remember, this guy's in Boston. UPS then helpfully changes the status to, "Receiver will pick up at UPS facility." Apparently, someone from Dell called UPS and told them that he would be picking up his monitor.

He is right in stating that the shipping difficulties are not his problem. Instead of passing the buck, Dell should have shipped him a new monitor and worked with UPS to get the original one back. But they didn't do that. They played this stupid game and left the customer hanging in the middle.

QA Words (yes, plural) of the Day!

#1: Formularity. From a customer: "I'd like to place an order for this, but it's not on my formularity." Some of our customers are on formularies, which means they have a set list of items that they can purchase from us. But I've never heard of a formularity. It reminds me of Father Mulcahy on M*A*S*H*: "Jocularity!"

#2: Que and reque. Wrong! Those are spelled queue and requeue (or re-queue). How correct does "que pasa" sound?