Putting the customer on hold! what do you do?
By aaronfyzeon
@aaronfyzeon (1920)
Philippines
July 27, 2010 3:26am CST
"Would you mind if I place you on hold for two minutes while i pull up your account?"
Two minutes of pulling up the account? Of course you are just interrupted of doing something else that is why you told your customer this standard spiel.
whenever i said this one to the customer, i was interrupted of my gossips to my fellow seatmate in a call center and just continue to my story or the things that also concern about our work.
Please tell me guys the usual things you do when you place the customer on hold.
2 people like this
7 responses
@thanks1961 (7035)
• India
27 Jul 10
Hi dear,
My work is nothing related the issue you speak about. However, at many occasions we are customers and we must have experience of such kind. Normally, when we are talking to any one or to a customer over the phone, and asking them on hold for sometime, attend them first. I mean, you should entertain the person holding the phone at your earliest with maximum satisfaction and if you are the authorised person for it, it becomes your duty to do so.
However, you have a near seated person to talk, or gossip, keep it for the off hook time and entertain them. In such cases, you can nicely speak them also that while I am on the call or call on hold, please let me to finish and afterward we can continue.
If they are really your friend, they will understand the position and will react accordingly.
Regards,
Thank-s
@thanks1961 (7035)
• India
27 Jul 10
Hi dear,
Also, I have notice that now-a-days, the quality of the output (the answers) from the respective call centre people are getting deteriorating. May be because of new and new people on the seat without proper and adequate training.
I have experienced the same within 6 months period. [My comment is based on my country only and a selected service providers]. It may not be applicable to every countries and other companies also.
But one thing is to be noted that your co-worker's attitude may lead you to attract bad remarks. If you are not prompting your calls properly, and you are getting interrupted by some one (it can be purposively also to make you slow down) which you may not understand at this time.
So, have a watch on these kind of things (i am to telling it may true) but indirectly there may be a chance for it.
Regards,
Thank-s
1 person likes this
@aaronfyzeon (1920)
• Philippines
27 Jul 10
Thank you for that! Yes, but it's the fun part of working in a call center! We can always do these things but we also risk our jobs by doing so. We always know when to do it and not to do it. We do have metrics that we are being ranked upon and it will always include the average time you put your customer on hold. You will see it every end of the week. So you will see who is doing such things most of the time. You will get a written warning for that if your metrics is not on the target goals.
Bottomline, these people who do things like these does not make it that far being in this industry.
@ada8may21 (2405)
• Philippines
27 Jul 10
When I put the customer on hold I might be going to the rest room because I could no longer hold my pee. Or maybe I might be taking my nap for 5 mins. Hahahah. I really dont like doing it but I am having fun of the customers. I would like to make it longer and putting on hold for another 5 mins. That sounds really great another free time doing my own thing.
@shia88 (4571)
• Malaysia
27 Jul 10
Hi,
I won't never do like what you described in the above.
For sure , my manger will come to me and asked me why am I doing so,it is very unresponsible to put customer on hold for so long.
If I were to go toilet or have a short break, I will change my mode to " BReak",then I quickly have a quick rest before start taking my next calls.
Working in a call centre is like rushing go some places.Keep taking calls
nonstop. And we do have the diagram to show how many calls we are taking per calls and how efficient we are on that particular day and this diagram will send via emails to all call centre staffs.
So I always try to stay at the best position during my job.
Some cases might need further clarifications or checkings and I will told the customer, I might need time to check it out and will call him/her back on the
next day.
Providing a good customer service is my job in the call centre as a customer service officer.
@aaronfyzeon (1920)
• Philippines
27 Jul 10
It is good that you can place the customer on hold for five minutes. The maximum time we can put them is only 2 minutes and you should get back to the customer on the specific time frame that you stated when you asked permission. Yes these things are bad, but then we should always be responsible in being serious with our jobs but then you really cannot avoid these things in your lives to have this kind of fun if you are working in a call center. If you do this often, there are metrics or reports being sent to your Team Leaders by the workforce department. So you really can't do this stuff a lot of times.
once i have talked to the customer and they already stated their reason for calling and i am in the process of thinking on what to do with it then it will also involve pulling up their account and processing it in another program, i will just simply tell that spiel to the customer while i do all these things so that it will not be a waste of time trying to put the customer on hold several times while doing each of the process.
Let's have fun with our work. there are lots of ways we can do it!
@ada8may21 (2405)
• Philippines
27 Jul 10
@shia your so lucky to end in that call center that allow you to have a short aux break. We my previous call center company we dont have a short aux break. Once we pressed the break button it means coffee break and rest room break all in one. You are going to used it twice only and we are going to have our aux break as a team as well. So what are you going to do if you are not allowed to do such things. Our aux break would only happen after 2 hrs from the time we log in. Isn't so fair? Anyways talking for the matrix even if I am doing those stuff I still managed to have a low AHT. My coach would not mock me about that because he knows that I am performing well. But those are the days and I am already over with it.
@Bebs08 (10681)
• United States
27 Jul 10
If something very serious, I can maybe do that to the customer but if it is just for gossips or other unimportant business? it is rude to do that to a customer. Put yourself in the customer's shoes. What would you feel if you know that your inquiry was put on hold because the one in-charge is telling gossips to her co worker? am sure you will be happy too. That is the same thing. So, for me, I can put the customer on hold if something come up very serious to attend too.
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
28 Jul 10
Now I think I can't answer this post from the point of view of a CSR. Now with those CSR put me on hold I really believe that they really are doing something which are not really connected with my complaint. It is so unfair if they are putting the customer on hold just to attend to their personal thing or just because they are chatting with other CSR. But what can I do? If that happens I can't just throw bad words on the CSR although I hate waiting. I hate it if my time is wasted so every time I am put on hold by CSR, I make it a point to have something on my hand to read so I will not get bored.
@chiwasaki (4694)
• Philippines
18 Sep 11
There are times when I put the customer on hold just to chat on my seat mate. But I see to it that I met my average handling time already. There are times that you feel so stressed and just want to have chat with a seatmate. It can be very stressful if you will just take calls for the whole shift without talking to your seatmate.
@rendhel09 (120)
• Philippines
27 Jul 10
well for me, i don't put the customer on hold just for pulling up an account, with my current work, it doesn't take that long to pull up an account, otherwise it will be a "ding" if you put them on hold on set of the call. there are things though why you put the customer on hold, 1. you search for the right things to share to the customer, 2. we put them on hold because there is a need for us to transfer them to the right department, 3. you are updating information on their account, 4. you don't like the customer because he is so mean, 5. sometimes you need to go to the c.r. 6. lastly, because you are eating....hehehe
@aaronfyzeon (1920)
• Philippines
27 Jul 10
Correct! i remember the days when i would just put the customer on hold just to stand up and ask from the person in front of me and ask this person if he is in a call right now and remind him that we will have a drinking session after shift! or just simply say, why is she late / absent again or ask where were you last night? oh i remember those days!
@shia88 (4571)
• Malaysia
27 Jul 10
Hi,
I used to work in call centre before I get married.
I have a call centre experiences for more than 3 years at 2 different banks
in Singapore.
My first call centre job was handling banking and housing loan enquiries.
Not an easy job definitely. I have to be patient and stay calm while talking
to the customer ,no matter how nasty is the customer, I have to be patient and
entertain his/her call.
Sometimes, it can be a complaint call early in the morning and that is definitely
spoilt my whole day mood.
We have a specific sentence to speak up while picking up every call.
We have to address yourself and the bank we are working at. Need to do some verification before proceed to assist the customers enquiries.
There was a time where we have to put the customer on whole for one minute to pull up the customer's details,it might not take long and we can't put the customer
on hold for so long,or else,it is very irritating and customer might make
the complaint against us.
Normally, I won't say " put you on hold for 2 mins while I pull up your account",instead I will say " Pls hold the line while I pull up your account, thank you",Then we quickly go to the customer account and do the necessary thing.
With the advanced technology, we no need to do any verification for bank customers
if there were to key in their details into the phone system before connecting to the call centre officer.So by the time, we picked up the customer call,we already
know the customer name and other personal details,it defnitely save our time
and we can straight forward go to customer's enquiries.
You see,how efficient it is now working in the call centre.
I definitely miss the moments of my working life in the call centre.
Hope I will have the chance to work in the call centre in future.
