My Call Center Experience II

2015.12.4: My Call Center Experience II

12:10am – 1:14am

I have much to write, but I don’t have a lot of time nor probably the energy to write.  So, to make this count, I want to first write about my call center experience so far.

I have been working at Cox Communications through Xerox about three months now.  I learned a lot and I have many stores to share.

But the one story I want to share is a customer I talk to today.  The very last call.

Today was a busy day at the call center.  For some reason, probably because of winter storms and outages, I was getting almost none stop calls.  I have to use my 20 minutes of break time spaced out in 5.5 hours wisely.  I also get a 30-minute lunch. 

I was finishing helping a customer with cable issues when my supervisor told me if I can take one more call.  Overtime is a common occurrence at my job, so does leaving early when no customers call.  So I agreed.  I really wanted to just go home and relax and spend time with God but I decided to make the sacrifice to make one more call.

And what a call that was.

Before I go into it, let me share with you some difficulties that I face when making calls, and my strengths as well.  I think my chief weakness talking to customers is my speaking skill.  Despite speaking for all my life, I still stutter horribly when talking on the phone.  My stuttering is less when talking to people face-to-face and still less when talking to people I know and trust.  But every time I hear a beep on the phone, for some reason, my tongue just can’t say the word.  My brain knows what to say, but I just can’t say it.  Then sometimes my mind gets distracted and it makes the delay and stuttering worse.  “T-t-th-[slient th]-T-Thank you for calling Cox Communications.”  “My name is S-s-s-teven.”  “H-[slient ow]-How can I help you?”  Each one of those stuttering roadblocks is a barrier and for each call, I sometimes are able to bypass on those roadblocks, but almost never am I able to overcome all of them. 

I think to myself that “Love comes from God” and “Power comes from God.”  Part of the reason why I stutter is due to fear, due to insecurity, due to a fear of rejection.  I have very little power in my introduction because I was afraid; I was afraid of the unknown.  Right now, at my workspace, I have both an American flag on one side and an Israeli flag on the other.  Looking that these flags gives me strength and hope.  I plan to further decorate my workspace by putting WordArt “Love comes from God” on my left side and “Power comes from God” on the other.  Other agents put pictures of their family, or Cox Communications resources, but I will instead focus on inspiration. 

When talking to people on the phone, I feel like that is how Jesus felt during his life of ministry.  He gets persecuted, rejected, attacked, verbally abused, and so forth and that is what many customers do to us, and to me.  I practice humility and I have a genuine desire to help them.  But, back to Jesus, I would rather get attacked and abused for the sake of the gospel than for the sake of cable.  Nevertheless, working at a call center is a very good experience.  I am able to improve my speaking skills, to develop my small talk skills, my selling skills.  It has helped me in my life.  And I plan to use it for His Kingdom in the near future. 

Football is not my passion.  Oh no, I think I just said a bad word.  On Saturdays and Sundays, I got many football calls.  TV isn’t working so they can’t watch football.  How can I build rapport with them?  For all my customers, I follow my call flow which includes asking the customer how they are doing and showing empathy.  Like in the Army, I feel it is necessary to at least study a bit on what is going on in the football world so I won’t be seen as an outcast.

About five customers so far, during my three months, asked me if I was a robot after I finished my introductory phase mentioned earlier in the stuttering section.  I replied “No, I’m not a robot.  I’m a real person.  My name is Steven.” 

I’ve got a customer asking me if I can be their personal agent, since I resolved and helped them so well.  I told him no, that the structure of the call center doesn’t allow it.

I only have one customer, I think, that tried to use my stuttering to discriminate me.  That customer told me “I already want to talk to someone else.”  But I empathized with her and was able to resolve and program her remote as well.  During the whole time, she was demanding, demeaning, and mean to me.  I don’t know if I even got a “thank you” or maybe it was a hollow one.  Many times, customers not only use me, but just use me, without showing any gratitude, respect, or appreciation.  Many times, it is a thankless job. 

To work at a call center, I have to be at my best.  I try to give every customer my best and it is very demanding of me.  It is very mentally demanding and for the salary that I earn, I know I can get a better-paying job without spending so much of my energy, brainpower, and willpower.  It is a very stressful job.  Back in nesting, we took two 15-minute breaks.  But for me, I couldn’t do that.  I take mini-breaks between every call. 

In a way, I feel customers will treat me nicer and better if everyone had the same genuine spirit of helpfulness like me.  But no, I am wrong.  I’m not here to brag.  I have many weaknesses although few are of my choosing (add: I also need to continue to renew my mind, to avoid thinking evil thoughts and to focus on what’s important, in this case, the issue, when talking to customers).  I am good at troubleshooting, at working with the computer system, with typing.  Those technical aspects are my strengths.  And showing love to customers and to be genuine and to help them.  However, it leaves me exhausted. 

There are many more experiences and stories that I can write but I either don’t have time or don’t remember as of now.  Maybe by reading my call center experiences, one can already have some experience working as a customer service representative.  :) 

My last call, the call I volunteered, was crazy and intense.  To make the long story short, the customer demanded me to fix her cable TV instantly.  I checked the diagnostics and found that her area has an outage.  I told her what I can do.  I told her the technician’s name and estimated repair time.  I empathized with her.  I listened to her.  She was cussing and maybe even fussing.  She blamed the company and me (since I’m a part of it), about other representatives telling her that she needed miniboxes to get service, which was completely untrue as she already have cable boxes.  She added that Cox did the minibox trick to get more of her and other customer’s money.  I educated her on the reason why a customer would want a minibox.  I educated her on both analog and digital signals, on what kind of channels she would get.  And throughout all this time, she went back to the present issue of her TV not working and demanded me to fix the issue now.  I kept repeating to her, with love and kindness, the truth.  I told her honestly is the best policy and I don’t want to lie to her.  I repeated the technician’s name and the estimated repair time.  Then she would talk about other bad Cox experience issues like her bill or having to constantly call us.  I empathized on all her concerns.  I told her I also care about saving money and shared with her my experience.  This call was hurting my handle time and I was pressured by others.  I asked “permission to hang up” but my supervisor said no.  I mean if I do have permission, I will gently do so, like when Joseph was planning to divorce Mary before he knew the truth.  So I stayed with her and informed her again the estimated repair time.  She told me she will stay on the phone with me until the issue is fixed, which will be in another hour, at this point of the call.  But, throughout this entire call, I was at peace.  I was actually a little happy.  I felt her pain.  Towards the middle and the end of the call, she started to say “sorry” but then went back to attacking.  Then she told me that she is, actually, a nice person.  I believed her.  Listening to her, I felt she was wronged, deceived, and that she was made to be mean to us, but I felt in her heart, like me, that she was a nice person.  My supervisor’s desk was next to mine today, due to computer issues and seating rearrangements.  Other agents and supervisors were around, and perhaps trying to listen to my share of the conversation.  I told her at one point that I can’t do the impossible, that only God can do the impossible.  I thought about evangelizing but I knew that I would be in trouble if I do.  I thought about reading that Inner and Healing Deliverance book to her while we waited.  I tried to ask what she enjoyed doing and her hobbies and interests and she told me that her interest is for me to “get her cable working.”  I followed the organizations call flow.  In calls like these, it is imperative that I follow the call flow with building rapport, empathizing, educating, and so forth so if I get a bad survey from her, I can challenge it (if I reach 80% or higher from quality control).  In the end, she calmed down enough when I reassured her that our technical support is open 24/7 and that she can call us back in half an hour.  She finally agreed and the call was over.  My supervisor complimented me on my patience and gentleness. 

So, working at a call center is very intense and stressful, at least for me.  If every day working on the phones is like this (and many days it is), I would, honestly, rather quit or leave.  I already informed my supervisor about my intentions but he wanted me to stay, telling me that the team needs me.  But, my mentor told me that I deserve a better job, a job with less stress and with higher pay.  I already have a bachelor’s degree, so why am I working at a call center?  It was because I gave up too easily, my fear of rejection, and my perceived desperation for a job, that I chose it.  But God will give me grace and I am going to look for a better job.  Today was a victory but I really hope God won’t grant me such a victory again.  He will, and I have to persevere.  

Spiritual Warfare (NES, PC game, 1992)

2015.9.17: Spiritual Warfare (NES, PC game, 1992)

11:44am – 12:55pm

One memorable game from my childhood is this Spiritual Warfare game published by Wisdom Tree in 1992.  The goal of this game is to evangelize people by throwing the fruits of the Spirit at them and to defeat the various mini-bosses (which is always a challenge), and finally, Satan.  You win the game when you saved the whole city.  As always, I’m into these RPG/Action-type games.  Screenshots of the game can be found at the end of this blog.

A concept I remembered that is important for the Christian walk is endurance.  Just as we need physical endurance to finish a race or to exert our body for an extended period of time, we need spiritual/soulical endurance to handle the stresses of life and to follow God’s principles in this world.

One of the key factors that got me through my Army experience is realizing that I need endurance and then focusing on this attribute.  Recently, however, I find myself lacking this trait.  When I drive on the street and drivers do an injustice on me, I get angry.  When life becomes hard, I want to take the easy way out and I become frustrated.  When people close to me say or do something that is mean, I get offended.  I would cry out to God, yes, but I would cry out to Him for justice, and maybe vengeance and revenge.  I believe measured justice is ok (Matthew 5:38), but I also need to pray that that punishment can bring that person to God.  But, after talking to my mentor, maybe I shouldn’t even think about justice.  God will bring justice anyways because it is in his character.  What I should do is to pray for their salvation and forgive them. 

I realized that those symptoms of anger, frustration, and offense are signs that my spiritual endurance is weakening.  My spirit is under stress but I don’t have enough “muscle” to endure it.  So, I am going to focus on this attribute again.

In the game Spiritual Warfare, “endurance” or “hit points” is measured by the amount of hearts the character has.  I used to think of that as physical hit points.  Once those bad guys beat you up too much, you lose the game.  But, now, I realized that those hit points are not physical in nature, but spiritual. I will get hurt; I will get hit; but will I continue to evangelize?  In spiritual warfare, for both definitions, you lose when you give up. 

God, increase my faith and endurance so I can have more hearts.  And, in the morning, fill those hearts up (or me up) so I can endure the difficulties of life [and the Christian walk]. 

P.S.

If you want to play and download the game: http://gamefabrique.com/download/spiritual-warfare/

Spyware checked (using Spybot)

Note: For Windows 10, set the program file to Windows 95 compatibility, disable display scaling, and run as admin on the “Compatibility” tab in the “Properties” window.  Once you run the game, open it using the “Genesis” option in the “File” menu and then press Esc for full screen.  :)

Some screenshots of the game:

Theme song for this blog:

10/21/2013: The Real Positive Qualities Chart / Guitar [Bright Ideas / Discovery]

10/21/2013: The Real Positive Qualities Chart / Guitar

S: 9:47pm

E: 10:53pm

Note: To see the small-print, drag the picture to the top to make a new tab.

So, as promised in my last blog, here is the Positive Qualities Chart developed by Jim Downs.  Let me retype some of the instructions they gave me:

[From handout]

Purpose & Philosophy: Whatever you focus on, you personify.  Whatever you experience becomes a part of your being.  You can become better than you are by choosing and acting on your positive ideas and ideals.

History of the Chart: Love, truth, beauty, and goodness are the foundation upon which all qualities are build and the culmination of all reality.  If these are the central values, what others are important and what would be the relationship among them?  The Chart and book are my answers to these questions.

Facts:  There are 1,000 qualities on the Chart which were taken from a list of over 2,300.  The Chart took six years to catalog, organize, and design.  Each quality has a wedge of qualities situated in front or behind appropriate related qualities.  These relationships flow out from and into the center – a sort of visual thesaurus.

[From brochure]

Positive Qualities are the basic and universal building blocks of life.  Being positive enhances your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.  We each embody a wide range of qualities and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many of these gifts you already possess.  Growth is assured with your conscious, sincere, intelligent and playful effort.  Keep up the good work.

Acquiring qualities creates a feeling of real accomplishment and gives a genuine boost to your self-esteem.  Share the powerful and tender force of Love by your willingness to understand and sympathize with others.

As you look at the chart, identify with a quality and see yourself experiencing it in your life.  For example, if you need humor, open yourself to the lighter side in your daily events.  Or, picture a situation and imagine what the ideal collection of qualities should be as you live out the scene.

…

Ahh, too much typing.  Ok, so there is the gist of it.  I can type fast, around 80-90 wpm average, but right now I’m running out of time.  Tomorrow may be another long day like today.

Before I get to my happenings today, I want to talk about the chart.  I do find this chart useful to keep track of my personal growth.  As you can see from the big picture, I have it taped to the wall.  The ones with a black dot are the ones I feel I have.  I am not done evaluating myself yet.  Best of all, having this chart serves as a visual reminder to improve myself.  I recommend everyone good to download the picture and to look at the values that you share. 

Ok, about today.  Whew.  I was supposed to get my blue autistic guitar two days go but when the USPS came, twice, there was no one to sign-in or track the package.  I was so pissed.  I was in my room at that time!  The thing is, I live in the back of the house, with separate rooms.  Therefore, I couldn’t hear whether the post-person knocked on the front door or not.  The only way for me to receive the package is to physically be at the front porch and wait for the delivery-person to arrive, which is just what I did.  I set my alarm to 8:30am because that was about the time when the person came the first time.  I waited outside from 8:45 to around 9:45 and no one showed up.  I had my fold-up ACU Army chair with books and my mp3 player.  However, I spent most of that time praying, singing, and walking around.  Waiting outside for people to come reminds me of a few memories from the Army.  In the Army, we too have to wait outside a lot.  I miss those times.  I remember once when I was in Kuwait, I was one of the three soldiers selected to go to another U.S. base to “watch” the equipment until the forward unit who is supposed to relieve us arrived.  So here I was, in a sea of military trucks and Humvees just standing there waiting for my shift to close so the next soldier can relieve me.  I would have my cellphone ready in case something happens.  And I would also have the same field chair with my ACU backpack next to it.  I would walk around and sing, pray, read the Bible, and eat.  The lot where I patrol is pretty big so I have to walk a bit to make sure everything is covered.  I also enjoy the feeling of being by myself.  I imagine once the stillness ends and the forward unit arrives, there will be a locust of activity where I stand.  I actually have a picture of myself.

Here I am, in a special mission.  This is a picture taken of me during night-time in my quarters typing, you guessed it, a blog.  We also spend a lot of time transporting materials around the site.  

Anyways, back to my story.  So the mail-person didn’t come.  I figured he or she will come again around noontime, because that was when that person came the second time.  I texted S (inital) that I wouldn’t be able to attend the prayer meeting because I have to “watch” for the mail-person.  So I waited outside again from 11:30am to around 12:30pm and still the cavalry didn’t come.  Using the journey-approach, I took measures and biked to the UPS store in downtown El Paso.  The staff told me, because of a special arrangement, my mail is with the USPS.  So, I biked back and drove to the post office where my zip code is at, which is pretty far away.  I got there and the staff there told me they moved my area to another post office.  So I drove there and the staff then told me because the sender designated it as a business address (which it’s not), the package is still en route with the mail-person.  Therefore, they don’t have it.  Oh my goodness.  Luckily, and I forgot to mention it, I made a note to the UPS deliverer (forgot to change to USPS) to call me to verify the package.  I’m so glad I made that note because while I was buying groceries at Wal-Mart near-by, the delivery-person texted me and told me the package is at the front of the house.  I’m so glad when I heard that.  All this work, all this effort, for nothing.  Well, not really nothing, I still learn some values and gained some experience. 

I ordered the acoustic guitar in part because I wanted to help play for Intervarsity.  The members there encouraged me to join them.  However, I might have trouble because their practice session conflicts with my volunteering time and I may be too busy to help.  I still want to remain optimistic so I brought the guitar.  I also already have an electric guitar, unfortunately, I realized its downfalls.  I thought the electric guitar would be the jack-of-all trades because with the amp, I can adjust the volume to however I want.  I developed a portable system where I put the amp in my backpack and connect the wires to my guitar.  There, I can walk and play and sing.  The downfall to my system is that it’s not portable enough.  I have classes all day (on Thursdays) and I bicycle to school.  By the time I’m done with my classes, I’m already tired.  I don’t want to lug a heavy electric guitar with a loaded backpack to school.  With my acoustic guitar, I can just use that as a backpack and bike my way to school.  Maybe I made a mistake.  Maybe I’m just being lazy.  I just wasted $35 on that guitar.  Oh, did I tell you I only spent $35 on it?  I was comparison shopping and I found this guitar on Amazon.  It is both cheap and of good quality, based on numerous customer reviews.  I got the guitar today and it is beautiful.  It also comes with a flimsy bag, a pitch-pipe, and a spare set of strings.  I could take a picture of myself with it and post it on Facebook sometime.

Ok, so there is my daily double.  I want to close this entry so I have a bit of time for myself, God, and to prepare to sleep.