Ever Wonder What the Call-Center Reps Think of You?
April 24th, 2010
Americans feel entitled to excellent customer service. With any customer service lines being handled by Indian representatives, complications with communication and understanding often times exacerbate the frustration customers feel when they call for help. Most, if not all, of us, have had the experience of being frustrated with some product or service, then trying to explain it to someone on the other line (who you know is reading a script prepared for your cookie-cutter problem), then struggling with trying to understand what they’re saying (and vice versa), leading you to completely lose your cool and take it out on the customer service representative on the other side. I know what you think, but have you ever wondered what they think? How do our short-comings in composure and good manners come across to foreigners? Does it matter? Why should we care?
Take a look at this video by ABC News from 2008: Click Here
(If you’re in a hurry, start at the 5:30-minute mark.)
ABC’s interview with Chetan Bhagat, author of One Night at the Call Center, gives some insight as to how those call center reps manage to keep their cool, even with the worst customers. The first tool of a customer service rep is the mute button. Bhagat reveals, “What you don’t hear are the curses back.” Bhagat also discloses another simple training tool used by call center agents referred to as 35 = 10. (I had to chuckle when I heard this one.) This tactic translates as follows: dealing with a 35-year-old American is like speaking to a 10-year-old Indian child. Bhagat explains that you wouldn’t lose your cool with a 10-year-old because they just don’t understand, and that is what they teach call center agents. So that’s how they do it!
Another segment profiles Swati Chopra, a 24-year-old tutor for a grade-school American boy. Swati tutors via the internet and a webcam. She explains that if she wants to tutor Americans, she has to be “very sweet” (implying that failing to be overly sensitive to students’ feelings could lead to her losing business). She goes on to explain that “there’s a gap of at least three grades between [Indian and American students].” Tutoring a seventh grade American equates to tutoring an Indian fourth-grader, and so Indian tutors need to adjust their teaching style to accommodate them.
I have to admit that I’m a little embarrassed by American short-comings with regard to manners and the message that it sends to the rest of the world. I think this segment really highlights some of the worst perceptions of Americans (overly entitled, rude, infantile, and dumb). Despite these perceptions (and acknowledging that a few rude customers don’t accurately reflect the population as a whole) foreigners still want to do business with us. Regardless of whether they’re motivated to make a buck or to just be a part of the modern world, it’s important that we consider how our behavior affects our image and reputation as Americans. Why is it important for us to improve our image, even if we don’t have to? What incentives does America have to improve other’s perceptions of it? What are some of the little things American individuals can do to improve that image? Will this affect how you prioritize use of good behavior and manners abroad?
-Erika Bylund
Entry Filed under: 2010 Student Blogs, India, Misc.
8 Comments Add your own
1. Chris Carr | April 24th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Having visited India, I am always nice when working with call center employees based in India. At the end of the call, after we have finished business, we often talk about where they are from, Delhi, Mumbai, etc. I learn about them, they learn about me and the US. It is a good thing.
2. Michael Minasian | April 25th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
I am actually somewhat offended by the 35-10 rule. If that’s what it takes to deal with irrational or insensitive people then so be it. However, when I am calling a tech support line it is because I have a serious problem that goes well beyond what level one support could manage. For me even talking to them represents a waste of my time. I am polite, because I know I have to play the game, but the question in my mind is, how long do I have to talk to this person until I hear the magic words (let me transfer you to “insert expert here”). I think that the call center reps are perhaps undertrained in many areas, and that leads to frustration. However when I am talked down to, or treated like a child by a support agent, it certainly does not help the situation.
3. Jeff | May 12th, 2010 at 8:10 am
My experience with call-centers has usually been poor regardless of if they are in a foreign country or the US. It’s not because of the people, it’s the process.
The technical problems that I typically have are beyond the 1st tier’s ability and invariably are escalated to the next level. I understand the situation and limitations of the people are on the other end of the line and empathize with what they have to put up with. Sometimes my patience wears a little thin walking through scripts and repeating steps I had already taken, but I know they have to do the walk-thru before transferring me to a more experienced technician.
The improvement I suggest is to somehow allow a quick escalation option for those who show a modicum of skill on the issue.
4. Emily Schaapveld | May 13th, 2010 at 6:50 am
Apparently both ends of the phone line are mocking each other…isn’t this a great world we live in? I agree with Jeff in that I have had good and poor customer service from American and Indian call centers alike. What an awful job to have to sit behind a desk for 8 hours a day listening to wining customers. I have found that it makes me happier and the customer service rep on the other line feel better if I am I just polite. Being an angry customer only gives me a headache and doesn’t resolve the problem any faster.
5. LIndsay Leaver | May 16th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Excellent post Erika! And I think a really important one. Regardless of whether or not you know more than the person at the call center, does it give you license to talk down to them or be rude? I am not at all offended by the 35-10 comment because I believe it to be true. Not necessarily in knowledge of a product, but in patience and composure. Having lived in Asia for 2 years and traveled extensively in the region, I was the 26 year old acting like a 10 year old.
Things move MUCH more slowly in Asia, and I have heard that India is even more extreme than other countries. If a bus in America is supposed to leave at 10 am, and it leaves at 10:05 you feel the irritation and impatience of the passengers. In Asia, if a bus is supposed to leave at 10am, and it actually does - over half the people would miss the bus! 10am means hopefully before noon.
These differences are bad or good, they just are. And as representatives of America in India, we better prepare to have a ton of patience and try to change the image and stereotype that people have of us. Why? Because it is the right thing to do.
Also, internationals continue to do business in America because that is where the money is. However, as we are all seeing, there are increasingly more places with money as we move forward in the 21st century. If things continue to equal out, and we are the only rude, entitled, and impatient country, there will no longer be the need or desire to do business here.
6. Alex Thornton | May 25th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
The statement “Americans feel entitled to excellent customer service” has some truth to it. But more importantly, customers are entitled to excellent customer service regardless of national origin. This, of course, does not give anyone the right to be rude. I am glad that call centers have come up with these great tricks to handle rude customers.
To answer your questions, it looks the problem is a disconnect between our actions and the benefits to society. As individuals, it may feel better to yell at a customer representative. But as a society, it is more productive to maintain our image. There does not seem to be a way to convince people to place the needs of society over their individual needs.
7. Frederick Peemoeller | June 4th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Great article but I am going to take a different stance than everybody else. In America, I don’t think we should change our behavior one bit. It is in our culture to be independent, different, and abrupt. We are amused by people that act this way and we embellish this behavior. Think of the most popular people in America, and they are popular because of their distinct behavior and lifestyle (Dennis Rodman, The Jersey Shore, Jackass, Sasha Cohen, Madonna, Sean Penn). This is what makes us who we are, and I don’t think that this change is the best way to alter how other countries perceive us.
Although I believe we shouldn’t change our behavior in America, its a different story when traveling overseas. We definitely need to embrace other countries while traveling and do our best to not be the ugly American. I think it is possible to do both, and that is what we need to learn as Americans.
8. Wiliam Ary | June 10th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
It is clear to me that the people who are call center operators are very intelligent. It is perfectly reasonable for them to be frustrated with the relative stupidity of customers who do not have any real expertise with the products they are using. This is typical of the modern American- they own dozens of complex electric devices but have no idea how to use them beyond a few rudimentary functions. For example, compare how many people browse the internet to how many people can write computer code. For that matter, how many people even read the manuals that come with their technology products? Its no wonder we sound stupid on the phone: we are ignorant of the power of the technology that we take for granted.
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