CALL CENTER 101: AN INSIDE STORY



It was a scene right out of the Jude Law movie "Enemy At The Gates"...

After undergoing 3-weeks training at call center 101 boot camp, our batch of 24 recruits were given our individual passwords, herded into the production area, and ordered to "CALL! CALL! CALL!" and that any man who drops or refuses to take a call "need not come back the next day!". Gingerly putting on our headsets and trying our best to look tough, as soon as we logged on...BOOM! We were suddenly flooded with a barrage of calls that came in one immediately after the other without ceasing!

Clumsily navigating my way through the data system, multi-tasking between talking on the phone, encoding data, finding the right "product" for the customer, and entering each sale on the "scoreboard", just after the first five or six calls, I almost had this child-like urge in me to call time out and gather my wits even for but a moment. But I cannot do that for that would have been the end of me...any man who drops or refuses to take a call "need not come back the next day". I tell you, the A/C was blowing cold air on the production floor, but I was sweating all throughout that graveyard shift.

And although I was scared during those first couple of hours. I just had no time to be scared. I was making mistakes left and right, I had a splitting headache and I felt like throwing up. But I have to keep taking each and every call and try my best to sound perky and confident in spite of the overwhelming fear I feel within my guts. The fifteen-minute break was heaven-sent. Walking off towards the cafeteria, I was still in a daze, not quite sure what the heck just happened the past two hours. After drinking a strong cup of brewed coffee, I gathered my wits and analyzed my performance. I was feeling a lot better now and my 15-minute break was almost up. I took a deep breath and bravely walked back into "battle"...

And for those who were wondering where I have been these past few weeks, well I've been busy learning call center 101. Now who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

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