Cathi of Biz Cradle made a great point by saying, “The only thing about the reps who have a hard time saying no, is that they will say "yes" to almost anything. This raises customer expectations to a level that can't possibly be met, and the result is not pretty.”
I’ve recently talked about the agent culture in the Philippines, stating that it was hard for them to say no. It is primarily due to years of being under the Spanish regime and Filipinos were so used to “pleasing”, most especially if they were talking to a foreigner. A lot has mistaken this as being friendly and hospitable, but believe it or not, it has been inculcated into our brains that we just have to say yes.
In a call center setting, this is very evident and something that most agents are having difficulty adjusting to. Though they are aware processes are in place and should be followed, it is in their nature to help, ergo saying yes to almost anything.
The consequence? They will bend the rules and hope they get away with it (hoping they weren’t monitored). If caught, they will always say, “I was trying to help. Isn’t that our job?” We start coaching and explain that if we allow this for one customer, we’ve set false expectations. We might have made him happy during that interaction but it may not be the same when he calls back into the center.
I explain further in “It’s Ok to Say No”.
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As explained in your related post, you mention that even when saying "no," other options should be offered. While better than nothing, options may not be acceptable to the customer.
Even accepting the premise that there are appropriate times to say "no," the justifaction should not be that there are particular processes in place since it is likely that those very processes are the cause of the customer service issue in the first place.
Posted by: Call Center Information Site | September 16, 2006 1:31 AM | Permalink to Comment