OT - customer service greetings/conversations

[DaddyChoc]

"Bro" annoys me too... you are not my mother's child

 

[ChicagoGG]

Here's a flip side to this. When any of us answers an outside call at work, we always say "Thank you for calling (...) This is (give name), how may I help you." Everybody does, from the GM on down. And what we often hear in return is "OMG, you aren't a machine...or sometimes #@%&#$, why does everyone have a freaking machine... (we don't use answering machines during business hours, so I guess a polite response implies a machine tape)...or more fun....people punching buttons in our ears to try and get past some imagined phone menu. Any or all of these responses means I need to take my patience pills, because the caller is not familiar with our place of business. Those who are know they will get a real person, not a taped menu. And yes, we will say "ma'am" or "sir" to you, be you 15 or 75, and address you by name if you give it to us. Our management is southern based and believes in manners. And as a former Texan, I do too. (Chicagoans are pretty darn nice, too.).... But I will never tell you to "have a nice day!"

 

[DaddyChoc]

our Thank You for Calling is recorded... we can stop it if we like, callers press zero trying to get past it but that doesn't work. We can hear everything they're saying as the greeting is playing. They always say "I thought you was a recording" we gotta explain that it was a recording. greeting was recorded to be uniform and helps save our voices. some people answer 500 calls a day

 

[Icebear]

If I can't get past the stupid phone tree I change companies whenever possible. If you don't want to talk to me directly you don't want my business.

 

[Geno-ista]

Yea, I notice that every time I head back home to IL.


It's "Chief" for me.

Chief was ok for Tom Selleck in Mr. baseball- but it doesn't worth for real men like us!!!

 

[DaddyChoc]

Caller: What time do you close?
Rep: 9pm
Caller: are you sure cause I thought you guys closed at 8
Rep: (blank stare, with the thought of hanging up on them) nope, 9pm

 

[meyers7]

Caller: What time do you close?
Rep: 9pm
Caller: are you sure cause I thought you guys closed at 8
Rep: (blank stare, with the thought of hanging up on them) nope, 9pm

I assume this call was at 8:15.

Caller: What time do you close?
Rep: 9pm
Caller: are you sure cause I thought you guys closed at 8
Rep: Oh, you're right. Goodbye.

 

[DaddyChoc]

haha even better

 

[cabbie191]

I like when they say thank you with my name after a lengthy conversation... I seem to think my name may have gotten lost in the shuffle.

and for the record I don't like the sweetie stuff... how do you know I'm sweet

Well, for one thing, you're a poster on this board!

I clearly remember a lesson on customer greetings from my first job as a teenager - working at a very small independent gas station/repair shop in Hartford. It was just me and the owner, Jack. He was very insistent that first impressions with a customer were critical, and therefore, I was to greet them with "hello" instead of "hi", the latter which he felt was too abrupt. And the hello couldn't be said too quickly, either!

I also recall a skit from Peanuts where Linus enters a room to show off to Lucy his brand new shoes and how beautifully shined they are. Then, as he leaves, she asks why he hasn't bothered to shine the back of the shoes. His response is something along the lines of It's the first impression that counts, not the last one.

Last, when traveling in Georgia or Tennessee, the only places waitresses have called me honey or sweetie, this has never bothered me. It's just part of the culture and I don't take it for anything more than that.