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'Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.'
- Napoleon Bonaparte
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'Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance'.
- Oscar Wilde |
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ANALYSIS
Travel
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February 6, 2006
WHY DO some businesses, or at least those working for them, have to be so rude? This afternoon I took a call from a man with an Asian accent on a very crackly line. His introduction included the name of a mobile phone company active in the UK, but with another word on the end of it. Normally, the UK's Mailing and Telephone Preference Services work very well indeed, but the legislation that means bans cold calling extends only to this country, so it is almost impossible to block marketing calls that originate outside the UK, in places such as India and the United States. So, having been asked how I was, I responded by asking why he was calling the number as it is on a 'do not call' list. Without so much as an apology or answering my question, the line went dead. The caller was probably working for an agent company, not the multi-national mobile phone firm itself, but it's the bigger global operation which is left bearing responsibility for this man's rudeness and the initial cheek of the call. Checking, revealed that 'the caller's number is not known', so it is not possible to register a complaint - either with the preference service, the global company or the centre from which the call originated. A courteous apology would have worked wonders. I would have been prepared to forgive someone trying to survive on a call centre salary for their managers' failings in not checking the do-not-call lists. But there was no simple 'sorry'. There wasn't even a chance to ask the caller to remove the number from their lists. And what happens? I'm left feeling resentful towards the global parent company. I use their services, not hugely, but enough. Next time, I'm thinking about renewing a mobile telephone contract, or finding a wireless internet provider, this experience will leave me just that little more reluctant to use their services and more ready to talk to one of their competitors. A single occurrance may not seem a lot, but if many others experience similar rudeness from callers using this company's name, the commercial effect could be significant. Supervising agents or franchisees to ensure that their quality standards mirror those of the parent organization is never easy, but it needs doing - both for public relations and longer-term commercial reasons. The answer may have cost implications, but it is reasonably straightforward: Better training and procedures would be an improvement for everyone concerned. Without it, or until it the training and the checks are in place, the bad taste of rudeness will remain a business threat that should not be there. Adam Christie
© copyright 2006 Adam Christie,
All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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