In the early days of my legal training, I was taught to tread very carefully when I was interviewing clients. The nature of the job is such that sometimes, you have to ask some quite intrusive questions. One very important aspect of doing that without the client storming out in a huff is explaining why you need to know. Yes, some people will still stone wall you, but most will understand and give you the information you need.
I sometimes think people on the commercial frontline – in call centres etc – should be given that training.
My mother is eighty-four years old and housebound. Her challenges are all physical – mentally, aside from the odd memory lapse (which she acknowledges and even laughs at) she’s as sharp as she ever was.
Because going out shopping on her own isn’t possible any more, she buys quite a lot from catalogues. A few weeks ago, a new book dropped through her letter-box, which included some fantastic Christmas gift ideas, for members of the family who are normally really difficult to buy for. There was even something for my fussy brother – and it was all reasonably priced!
So Mum set about making a list. Then she called the 0844 number.
First issue: it went to a call centre which was obviously overseas. The line was poor and the operator had a strong accent, making it difficult for Mum to hear everything she said.
Second issue: Mum is old-school. She doesn’t like credit. So she wanted to pay for everything on her card, there and then. That, she thought, should make the process very simple. Not so!
The operator started asking her a long list of questions:
‘Full name?’ – fine, thought Mum;
‘Address?’ – no problem;
‘Date of birth’ – not sure why that’s relevant – but ok;
‘Age?’ – hang on, Mum thought at this point, didn’t I just give you my date of birth? Are you checking my mathematical powers – or are you the one that can’t work it out?!
When the girl got on to who owned the house, Mum flipped. Why on earth, she wanted to know, was it necessary to ask that when she wasn’t applying for credit?
I suspect that (and other frankly cheeky questions) was designed to build a picture of the average customer they were attracting, so they could channel the information into future marketing. I know that because I do it myself (within reason) – as I’m sure you do – but my mother has no business experience, so all she knew was that some young kid miles from these shores was being rude for no apparent reason~!
Did the call centre operative explain why she needed all this apparently irrelevant information? Of course she did – she said quite clearly, ‘I have to ask – you want to set up an account and it’s on the form’.
Eventually, Mum had had enough. I came in in the middle of what was becoming an increasingly heated exchange and she handed me the phone.
To cut a long story short, I tried to explain to the voice at the other end that Mum simply wanted to understand why such indepth questioning was necessary when she didn’t want credit. Why did it matter who owned her house when she was paying upfront?
All I got back was, ‘I need to set up an account and the questions are on the form’.
In the end, the perator became very snappy and Mum and I decided it was timeMum to put the phone down. She’d find what she wanted elsewhere.
So the catalogue company lost not only that order but any future orders she might have made. They also ensured she’d tell her entire social circle not to borther with them!
Most of us have to ask potentially tricky tricky questions of our customers at some point; but if they understand why, generally they’ll be happy to answer. More to the point, if we’re delegating the task to someone else, I’d have thought it was pretty essential that they should understand why they’re asking the questions in front of them! This girl clearly had no idea.
As for the overseas call centre issue – and the dodgy phone line – well, that’s another rant, for another time.