Ranting

[dwpanxt]

I work on an enquiry line .Its very stressful as we take calls continually with no breaks at all between individual calls ( we do have scheduled breaks of course) and each call has to be a short as possible.I can take about 75 calls per working day.

Thankfully people are in the main okay with the information and help I give them.I am very experienced in what I do and rarely have any trouble.

However there is a small selection of people who are so aggressive in their speech that I find it very difficult to deal with them properly.
These people launch into rapid fire speech with questions and assumptions and talking over me when I start to speak. I find myself feeling as though Im backed into a corner and have to defend myself even though the problem is not of my creation. They also demand that certain strategies are employed when this is not protocol and get very annoyed (ie threatening 'legal action'& 'my MP' )when I say no to these.

My present way of dealing with them is to remain quiet and let them rant . However this takes time and by the end of their ranting I could have dealt with at least 3 other people who have sat in the telephone queue.I am concious of this and resent the ranters hugely.

I would really like to know how to deal with this situation. Why do they do it? Dont they know how they come across to others ?Dont they care?

I suppose this has been a bit of a rant itself actually. But I have been so wound up today by a few people that I fel the need to find out hy they do this.

Thanks for getting so far.

Does your work offer any training or support in this - mine did a dealing with aggressive people training course which provided helpful information (I do face to face customer work).

You need support, training and to be given a method of dealing with this.

In my experience, they are used to getting their own way, and feel that the more agressive they are, the more likely they are to get what they want. They have no idea who you are, the conditions you work in, or how they are coming across, and they don't care.
I don't think there is a way of dealing with it other than saying that "legal action/MP" line will not change company policy, and knowing that your managers will back you. You have to be as gently spoken and calm as possible, which is really tricky when they're going for it. Maybe try cutting them short with "I understand your frustrations, but how about I try and resolve the situation for you...." or something similar. Not easy through...I deal with it often, and am constantly baffled by some people's general attitude towards other humans. I make myself feel better by trying always to see the best of people esp in service industries and knowing I am the better person for it!!!

Training? Que?

We get loads of training but its mainly how to shave seconds of each call and how not to create work further down the line.

We get a fair few very aggressive calls and its quite upsetting to deal with and have no recourse for answering back.

I will see what if anything can be offered in the way of training but I really doubt there will be anything not quantity related.Targets targets targets - nothing else matters.

Sorry JImJammum our posts crossed.
I do tend to use your strategy of remaining calm and being the better person but no longer use "I understand your frustration" as this only seems to set them off again .

I would just love to have a definite way of getting them to stop and listen rather than feeling like Im being forced into a reaction I didnt invite.

what do your emplyers suggest you do when you get such a call?
i mean, as you say, it takes up a lot of time, and if they want you to field as many calls as possible then they need you to be able to deal with angry people more effectively surely?

you don't work for littlewoods customer services by any chance? lol

Actually writing this down and seeing the suggestions has made me realise that this is being dreadfully ignored by managers. There have been NO initiatives at all addressing this issue and people are left to do the best they can . There are often (hugely entertaining ) shouting matches between staff and customers -but obviously we can hear only one side.

On the other hand its a vital job we do and is appreciated by the vast majority of people we deal with.

I will definitely start a mission to get this tackled-by bringing in the union/health and safety/wellbeing at work experts as necessary.

And no its not Littlewoods CS its much , much bigger than that.

must be BT then? or tax credits? lol

i've been immensely angry at all 3 companies I mention, over the phone... i have often apoloised because i know it isn't the person on the phones fault, but it's just SO frustrating

am trying to think what people could have said/have said, that could make me calm down...

No .neither of those . You would have to be a real detective to find out where....

You are right -most of the people ARE angry and usually will say "I know its not you/ your fault" but it doesnt help when you have to listen to 15 minutes of angry talk with no possibly of a two way conversation.Plus of course it ISNT my problem and all I will do is pass it to the relevant section who will do the necessary .

hmm if you have the option of diverting them to someone more appropriate then all you need is a way of heading them off at the passe so to speak...

can you open ALL conversations with "can you just give me a brief overview of the problem so that i can refer you to someone who can help you?"
or something like that?

dwp (hmmm - is that a hint?), one of the things I specialise in at work is Contact Centre excellence. If you're being targeted against the number of calls taken, then possibly the way to "sell" the idea of training to handle these calls is to advise your management team that these calls are taking too much time etc and impacting your results. I'm sure you know that though!

Oooh contact centre excellence ? That sounds like something we would normally get involved in. We do have a CCA award but that seemed to focus on targets again

I will 'sell' the idea of training as its so stressful and for no real gain for any of the parties involved.

And Belle ... I couldnt possibly say

Seriously, you can "CAT" me if you need any help, etc. I suspect, also, that I may not be a long way away from you if you're based in West Yorkshire

If you work where I think you work, your targets will be pretty fierce for all sorts of reasons but that really just strengthens the case to get this particular issue resolved.

By the way, I hear you're pretty damn excellent where you are - not necessarily the environment but your teams are highly regarded in the industry.

Im sorry but I don't have CAT yet

Belle...Im not exactly where you think I am but not that far away either.

Thank you . We ARE damn excellent and take our roles very seriously - actually sharing tips during breaks and after work and much of our conversation is centred around 'customers' needs. We are one of the largest centres and have taken on board many many changes in recent years(with ,no doubt, many more to come shortly ).

Its just frustrating to be held ransom by someone with an axe to grind -all the while in the sure knowledge that in the end it will still have to be handed to the section that can deal with the problem. 20 minutes wasted when at least another 4 customers could have been helped- multiply that over the centre as a whole - 10,500 calls per day is not unusual-and that is a lot of calls unanswered.Plus of course a lot of stressed agents.
But this thread has been very helpful in allowing me to identify where I will go to get some help .And just writing stuff down is therapeutic anyway.

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