Dealing with customer service is a chance to connect across the world
“Who do I Have the Pleasure of Speaking With Today?”
That is the voice of a customer service provider on my phone call for help. There are about 18 million call center employees worldwide that provide service and product information that I have taken for granted. At least up until now.
You and I can pick up our phone 24/7 and order an appliance, or get advice on how to repair it, or we could order a toy, or blouse, or complain about a Comcast/xfinity rate increase.
Within a few minutes, a person in the Philippines, India, Mexico or Costa Rica will usually ask politely, “How may I help?” or “Who do I have the pleasure of talking to today?” My focus here is not on incoming calls for an extended warranty, a product survey or a political contribution. Rather I want to share with Daily Camera readers what I have experienced with call center staffers that are hired by corporations to provide customer advice.
These individuals are bilingual, trained to be courteous, (despite impatient or impolite customers) and they are often working inconvenient eight-hour shifts at salaries well below other service industry employees.
In the past, call center folks have helped me with airplane reservations, hotel arrangements and computer technical support. If there were a few minutes while a schedule was being searched, I would ask a little about the person who was sitting 8,000 or 10,000 miles away. “How is the weather in Manila?” or “What is the temperature in Mumbai?”
What often happens is that the customer service person will say, “It is raining cats and dogs”, or it is very warm. And then ask, “What is it like in Colorado?” If any more time is left on the call there might be some small talk exchanged about favorite food, favorite hobbies or even family members. On a few of these occasions, the call center person has said, ”You were the most pleasant customer I have had all day.”
Of the 18 million-call center employees worldwide (including 470, 776 in the United States), the Philippines has 1. 3 million in the profession followed by India with 1. 2 million.
The live customer service provider runs a risk of being replaced by a computer-activated voice in the form of AI, bots and other high-tech simulations.
For Daily Camera readers who prefer live voice assistance (like I do) instead of computer voices like Siri and Alexa, I have come to appreciate the human connection. The fact of life is that global corporations are looking for automated cost-saving measures.
In the Philippines, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is having growing success due to relatively low operating costs, an excellent college-educated workforce and good familiarity with American-style English. In
Davao City, Philippines, there are 50 BPO companies with about 50,000 total employees who earn about $300 per month.
When the COVID pandemic struck, many call centers dispersed their staff to safer locations. You might hear children in the background or a dog barking that would tell you the service provider was working at home.
My Comcast/xfinity bill recently increased by about ten dollars. I called as suggested by the Boulder Xfinity retail store. A very professional and personal voice asked how she could help. Her name was Mae and she explained that the cost increase was due to increased taxes. She listed ways I could save costs by reducing service or deleting my landline. I was not prepared to do that.
After a pause, Mae asked if I was familiar with the Affordable Connectivity Program (APC) which provides a $30 discount on internet services and up to a $100 discount on a laptop or desk computer for eligible households. She spent at least thirty minutes trying to help me fill out the APC application. It turned out I did not qualify. In between my unsuccessful application efforts, I learned that Mae lived in Davao City, Philippines, (the country’s third most populous city with 1,778,000) with her two daughters and niece. She raises tomatoes and herbs in pots and loves guppies.
Her hours of serving customers seemed very challenging with changing eight hours shifts and occasional rude customers. But Mae never mentioned a complaint or frustration about her job. I will always be appreciative of customer service providers from this country or other parts of the world and never take them for granted.
Spense Havlick is a former member of the Daily Camera Editorial Advisory Board and a former city council member. Email: havlick@colorado.edu.