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I'm (Not) Gonna Be Calling You Soon!
Hexmage-PA
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
After looking for a part-time job for a few months I finally landed a position at Dial America, which means I'm going to be a telemarketer. Does anyone have any advice?
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Other than that, try not to be discouraged when people get mad at you, and accept that they're really mad at your company rather than at you personally.
Be prepared to take verbal abuse. A lot of abuse.
My wife actually worked for one of their call centers about 6 years ago, and hated every second of it - all her free time at night was spent sending out resumes and otherwise looking for other work, which thankfully only took a few weeks.
It sounds trite when I put it that way, but still.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Be prepared to be hung up on. I don't even give telemarketers time to get into their spiel.
Worse then that are the people who quietly set the phone down and walk away.
I've heard some call centers don't allow their agents to hang up, and something like that will kill your call stats straight to hell.
Really, the only advice I can give has already been given. Unless you're one of the sorry souless bastards who enjoys the work (someone's got to ride the low end of the bell curve), keep your resume flowing.
Other than that, keep your chin up. The people you call can get nasty, but it's nothing personal, and there are some who'll be the nicest people to you. They'll help keep you going, as well.
If you can, doodle while on the job. I drew maps constantly during my shifts.
Did you map the nearest exit compulsively?
For the OP: don't take whatever I say to you personally, it's just my life sucks and I get to take it out on you 8-)
That's not strictly true. I, for example, am really mad at both the company AND the telemarketer personally. Why? Because it's a bottom-feeder "job." Actually that's a bad description, because in the world of the sea, bottom-feeders have a purpose, which is to ingest everyone else's shit and turn it into something useful, like Tilapia.
So I guess my first advice would be "don't." You're telling me that you can't find a job that's similarly lucrative and flexible but doesn't involve you being a blight on the rest of humanity? Aren't there old people in your area that will pay $8 for an hour's worth of lawnmowing? Isn't there a Hot Dog on a Stick at the local mall that needs a new cashier on alternate Sundays? They have the cute rainbow skintight shirts and beanies, so bonus?
If you intend to go through with this after all, I guess my advice would be: 1) don't get pissy with the customers. Yes, your job sucks, but don't take it out on me. You called me, remember? And 2) Listen to what they're actually saying. I can't tell you how many times a telemarketer has gotten me halfway through signing up for something I didn't want before I was forced to say "You understand that I'm not buying anything at all today, right?"
Anyway, thank you for reminding me of the downside of capitalism.
For Gods sake look for another job. Modify your job searching strategy if you aren't having good results (doesn't look like it..)
What I was saying was more a matter of "if you dont do it, somebody else will, and they'll get just as pissed off with that person." Although the best telemarketers as far as I'm concerned are the ones that are polite and start with a "Hello, how are you?" and then ask if you would be interested in _______ so they are straight to the point but polite, so you can say no nicely and be done with it.
I was called Satan one time for calling on a Sunday by an old lady.
Keep applying at jobs. This won't last long I assure you.
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It is the most soul crushingly boring and demeaning occupation I have ever had
If you want otherwise friendly, normal people to constantly tell you you are a worthless piece of shit because you interrupted their free time, go for it
Prepare to have people whistle and shriek down the phone instead of hanging up
oh and 'demand to speak to your manager'
my advice would be find a new job asap!
Keep passing out resumes.
And if it gets bad enough, quit before you say something nasty back to a client or put a gun barrel between your teeth.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Don't pin your hopes on this as a long term job. Some people thrive on it, some can't last a day. You can hope for the former but odds are on the latter. I know right now people have to do what they have to do, but some of those places are extra shady. My advice is going to be to keep on looking, even if you manage to make it through training. It'll be rough in there.
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This.
Seriously, it will get to you.
When I started my job, and got yelled at every day for some sort of crazy thing I had no control over, it seriously fucked with me for a few weeks.
Get ready to have your ears ground into dust by people that hate you and everything you stand for. If your employer allows (they probably won't), just hang up on these people as soon as possible. You will get nowhere with them. They would kill you if they could.
Go into every call with the mindset that these people aren't going to want to hear anything that comes out of your mouth. You hear me? Nothing. That way, you'll never be caught off guard by someone's anger.
Realize that customer service, like many entry and low level positions, is an entirely thankless job, both from the people you call and the people that supervise you. Expect no one to congratulate you on your hard work, no matter how much time and effort you may put into this job. It very likely will not happen.
Last but not least, realize that customer service positions (in general) blow. You are the first line of defense with customers, whether they are happy or upset. In their mind, you are the company and you have to fix their problem. Some days suck, some don't, but it is generally not the happiest job in the world.
I don't mind my job very much because I'm pretty good at it and I have co-workers that I get along with very well. There's also the promise of moving up in the company in the years to come. I don't know what kind of opportunities you have, but I'm assuming that since it's a call center, there won't be much.
Only work there are long as you have to. Get out ASAP.
Seconded. The turnover at these jobs is really high, like every six months or so.
I've worked in call centers for about ten years now in different capacities. The main thing is to (A) know your stuff (B) disengage your feelings and (C) just do the job.
(A) is so you are never caught flatfooted by a customer's question. Say you get that person on the line that didn't hang up on you or worse, and they want to hear about your magazine subscriptions or your 4% no-doc loans. The very LAST thing you want to do is be floundering around or putting them on hold to find the answer to their questions. Your customer is now checking out, your supervisor is going to play the call back to you and "coach" you on it, your numbers are going to be screwed up by a long call with no-sale. Have a ready answer to everything.
(B) is for the other people. The people you are calling may think it's fun to dick around with you, like you're not a person trying to pay bills. They aren't mad at you, they're mad at the phone. The people you work for are (in general) people who were good at your job and know nothing about managing people outside of a spreadsheet. They're not unhappy with you, they're unhappy with the spreadsheet.
(C) is for your attitude. There will be stupid scripts you have to read, verbatim. There will be stupid questions that you have to ask even though the caller already told you the answer or it's patently ridiculous (Do you have a snowplow on your vehicle - when it's a Smart). There will be things your supervisor wants you to say that are completely stupid and pointless. But spending time trying to game the system and get by without doing it is way more hassle than just doing it. They'll be able to listen to your calls, and probably even watch second-by-second screenshots from the call too so they can see you posting on PA while you're on a call. They'll be able to track your phone system down to the second. Your life will be less hassle if you just play their game, get your paycheck and get out of there at the end of the day.
And keep looking for that other job so that you're not feeling trapped. A lot of phone agents I work with are constantly depressed about not liking their work but they have nothing else to go to, so they just grind along. Hating their job but not doing anything about it. Any job experience is good job experience on a resume. Also it doesn't hurt to be a good and friendly coworker, bring in donuts once in a while or organize a potluck lunch, help your boss out with contests.
Trust me man, the $9 an hour you are going to see for this thing is no where near enough compensation for what you will go through. I would seriously starve to death 1st.
I might not be trying hard enough, but I've put in applications at dozens of different places and haven't heard back from any of them. It doesn't help that I'm in a college town.
I still thank God that I didn't have to stay at that job. Do it if it will pay the bills and keep you off the street, but look for something...anything else.
How many of those places have you called since submitting your applications?
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
how many of those places are fast food joints, I would rather work behind a counter than take bullshit abuse from doing a bullshit job.
The weird thing is that the initial interview gave me the impression that I would be making outgoing calls, especially since I had to read from a script during the interview and pretend that I was calling someone. You think they'd make sure the interview was relevant.
Hopefully now I won't be a blight on humanity.
I guess it's not, really.
I was lucky. When I did telemarketing, it was.. specialized. Uniform sales to schools (trying to convince them, it was usually a fun argument), and then doing customer surveys (from the customers of the stores, to determine manager bonuses.)
Number one tip in a job like that:
Take notice of the OTHER jobs going on around you. Admin assistants? Typing pool? Anything like that? Learn the skills. Push your resume, say to your boss "I can do THIS and I notice that you have THIS job here! You don't need it right now? You might later! Remember me!"
A lot of the agents at my work do that unfortunately. They present the payment plan like "it's $X a month BUUUTT you have to put down $Y are you still interested because I would totally understand if you wanted to hang up right now and maybe start a blog about how this downpayment is crazy."