The life of a call center agent

Training....
The Classroom...
As with any job you must be trained, if not, how would you do your job? We here at convergys started with a 2 week in class training learning about our job. We didn't get much hands on learning, which I much perfer. After our 2 weeks of being in a classroom setting we moved over to a different room and started taking live calls. My first day I was rather scared, how was I going to do, how was I going to handle angry customers, would I be able to do the job or not. Well, that day has come and past and I think I did okay. We have two days in a classroom of taking calls before we move to the floor. The second day in the room went by slowly, finally I decided instead of being paired with someone I would go it by myself. You know what happened? I left someone on hold for 11 mins!! I was so embrassed to have done that, how could I not notice they were still on hold? Actually, my phone had showed that they had hung up, then my trainer had said....."Denise, you have someone on hold for 11 mins" I quickly took them off hold and apologized for having them on hold for that long. They were alright with it and we took care of the issue and that was that. Well, the classroom part is over and we are now on the floor.

The Floor....
Today was our first day on the call center floor. No longer are we in our little room, but we are surrounded by at least 150-200 fellow agents. Talk about being nervous! We took our seats in the nesting area, also more commonly known as the transition area. We logged into all of our programs and phones and then at 2pm we went live. I listened as my fellow agents took calls all around, as I sat there. After an hour passed and I had not gotten 1 call I started wondering if I was logged into the phones, I checked and double check. After about another 45mins I finally recieved my first call! I was in the slowest market that we have, and then my first call was an upset customer. He was mad because his credit card payment in our autopay system didn't go through. When I pulled up his account I noticed that it had been declined. I asked my trainer why this could have happened and he said there were many reason, ie...incorrect information, over the credit limit, etc. When I returned to the customer he wasn't happy to hear these reasons, it had to be our fault and we should correct it. I let him know that he should verify online that the information was correct, and if it is to call his credit card company and ask why they would decline the card. This was something he didn't want to hear. He thought that he had hung up, but he didn't. So I listened as he was complaining about my service and how terrible it was, because he didn't get the answer he wanted to hear.
And then after that call I was transferred over to another market and things went pretty slowly from there.

So there was my day, not so bad, or not at least as bad as I thought it would be.

Brain Teasers

These are some brain teasers that we have been given in class. Can you figure them out...



CANDY IQ
Names of candy

1.Swashbuckling Trio
2.Glaxy
3.Red Planet
4.Not Laughing Out Loud
5.Drops Everything
6.Famous Author
7.Presidents Daughter
8.Street in NY
9.Twins
10.Superman's Alter Ego
11.A Sweet Sign of Affection
12.Reward for Working
13.What Bee's Make
14.Nut Happy
15.Two Pronouns
16.Build Your Own Feline
17.Woman Want Him
18.Round Flotation Device
19.Sun Explosion
20.Bite With Noise
21.Determines Who Wins
22.Dry Cry
23.Children of The Cane
24.Whats That

Gardening 101: Things not to do

So the last few years Vincent and I have had a small little garden. It wasn't big, but it did us good. We had herbs, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, etc. Well this year we are planning on doing a garden again, and I would like to share the wisdom that I have learned with you.

#1:Don't pick an area of land that is going to be unmanagable. Remember you have to maintain this garden, it's not going to grow on it's own

#2Mind your weeds, if you don't get them by the roots they will come back!

#3:Tilling is hard work. It may sound easy but don't be fooled.

#4:Be mindful of your climit, not everything will grow well in the area that you live in.

#5:Follow the instructions on the seed packets, if you don't they may not grow.

#6:Don't always count on the rain to water your garden, of course make sure you have access to water close by.

#7:Be mindful of nature, critters out there like food handed right to them.

#8:Don't put off planting your garden, things don't just grow overnight it takes time.

#9:If your husband says, "Don't worry hunny I will help you with the garden", what he really means, "Hunny you do all the work and I will reap the benefits of your hard work". No really, if your husband / wife offers to help you remind them that they promised when things are getting to much for you.

#10:Love your garden, if you don't love what you are doing then you aren't going to want to do it.

Work...work...and more work!

For the most part of my working life I have worked in childcare. So working in a call center is something a bit new for me. I am used to being able to sit on the floor and play with children, eat snacks / lunch with them and even have a 3 hour break (1 hour lunch 2 hr naptime). Here I have traded all that in. I have traded in natural sunlight to florescent lights, fresh air for forced air, and the sounds of nature for that of my fellow agents. I must admit that I am a bit excited and yet a bit fearful. I wonder how I will handle my first angry customer, will I cry, will I remain calm. Training has been somewhat fun, somewhat boring. I wonder if after I complete training if I will be fully prepared for what I will meet.

More to come....