Call Center Reps: Do You Use Your Power for Good?

My Mom just got off the phone.  A three-hour help desk call.  She is crying. 

 

“I guess I’m just too stupid to understand what they are saying,” she is defeated. 

 

The first thing that comes to mind (after assuring her that she isn’t stupid, she is one of the smartest people I know) is that Call Center, Help Desk and Technical Support staffs wield an amazing amount of power over their customer.

 

Clearly, this representative had the power to reduce my Mother to tears. 

 

Many years ago I was a cord-board (dating myself) operator for GTE phone services.  I learned early on that people are much braver over the phone than they’d ever be in person.  Flirty, sassy, sarcastic and sometimes down right rude – when you can’t make eye contact, you might behave differently than you would otherwise.

 

I love to make business connections with the unexpected and so today I’d like to compare the power that Call Center associates have to some of our favorite super heroes and crime fighters.  Ask yourself this:  Do I use my power for good or evil?

 That’s how the article Do You Use Your Powers for Good begins.  My thanks to Colin Taylor of The Taylor Reach Group for the opportunity to write an article for his much respected newsletter.

I first met  Colin through AllTop.com.  His blog Call Center Perspectives is one of the top ranked blogs on Guy Kawasaki’s news aggregator and I’ve enjoyed following his thoughts on customer service as it relates to the call center world.

I hope you’ll read the rest of my article which compares Call Center reps to Mighty Mouse, Superman, and the Invisible woman, just to name a few.

Whether you are a call center rep or not – you have powers in the eyes of the customer.  Do you use your powers for good or evil?