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Customer Service Professionals Focus on Job Standards
“This year we celebrate our second annual customer service professional day by highlighting contract language and policies that bring out the best in our members,” said CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, in kicking off CWA’s annual Customer Service/Marketing Conference in Boston in October.
“This means problem-solving, not tight scripting, time to breathe, ethical and reasonable approaches to sales, keeping customer service work in the company and not contracted out. At best it means overtime notification, notice on monitoring and scheduling flexibility,” Cohen said.
The conference, hosted by Local 1400 and attended by 300 people, came on the heels of CWA’s annual day honoring customer service professionals. Locals across the country held workplace parties, delivered cakes and distributed buttons and posters to let members know their good work is appreciated.
“It’s wonderful recognition for workers,” said Priscilla Ayars of Local 2202 in Virginia Beach, Va. “Any pat on the back is an incentive.”
CWA’s customer service professionals include workers in telephone and airline reservation call centers, newspaper employees in classified advertising, and many government and school employees.
Conference panels looked at quality customer service in a sales environment, effective public speaking, reaching out to young union members and other topics. The conference also heard speakers from Mexico and France who described call center tensions and practices in their countries much like the high-pressure situations customer service representatives face in the United States.
Yvette Herrera, assistant to Cohen, said one of the goals of conference participants is to promote a global solidarity action for next year’s CWA Customer Service Day. “The idea is that customer service professionals in different countries would do something collectively, such as wearing stickers that say ‘Customer Service Professional’ in perhaps six different languages,” she said.
Another issue raised for future discussion is possible legislation to require call center workers to reveal where they’re located, if customers ask. That’s because U.S. companies are moving call centers to countries such as India and training workers to trick American callers into believing the call-takers are located in the United States.
A Chicago Tribune story last summer featured a New Delhi call center employing 3,000 people who use names such as “Bradley” and “Sophia” when talking to Americans on the phone.
“New recruits watch reruns of ‘Friends’ over and over until they can talk exactly like Chandler, Monica or Phoebe,” the story reported. “They learn the rules of American baseball and the names of American football stars.”
Cohen said the practice is highly deceptive and puts thousands of family-wage jobs in the United States at risk. “Shouldn’t a customer have the right to know whether they are speaking with employees or contractors and where the representative is located?” he said. “Is this any different than our right to know where our clothing or TV sets are made?”
“This means problem-solving, not tight scripting, time to breathe, ethical and reasonable approaches to sales, keeping customer service work in the company and not contracted out. At best it means overtime notification, notice on monitoring and scheduling flexibility,” Cohen said.
The conference, hosted by Local 1400 and attended by 300 people, came on the heels of CWA’s annual day honoring customer service professionals. Locals across the country held workplace parties, delivered cakes and distributed buttons and posters to let members know their good work is appreciated.
“It’s wonderful recognition for workers,” said Priscilla Ayars of Local 2202 in Virginia Beach, Va. “Any pat on the back is an incentive.”
CWA’s customer service professionals include workers in telephone and airline reservation call centers, newspaper employees in classified advertising, and many government and school employees.
Conference panels looked at quality customer service in a sales environment, effective public speaking, reaching out to young union members and other topics. The conference also heard speakers from Mexico and France who described call center tensions and practices in their countries much like the high-pressure situations customer service representatives face in the United States.
Yvette Herrera, assistant to Cohen, said one of the goals of conference participants is to promote a global solidarity action for next year’s CWA Customer Service Day. “The idea is that customer service professionals in different countries would do something collectively, such as wearing stickers that say ‘Customer Service Professional’ in perhaps six different languages,” she said.
Another issue raised for future discussion is possible legislation to require call center workers to reveal where they’re located, if customers ask. That’s because U.S. companies are moving call centers to countries such as India and training workers to trick American callers into believing the call-takers are located in the United States.
A Chicago Tribune story last summer featured a New Delhi call center employing 3,000 people who use names such as “Bradley” and “Sophia” when talking to Americans on the phone.
“New recruits watch reruns of ‘Friends’ over and over until they can talk exactly like Chandler, Monica or Phoebe,” the story reported. “They learn the rules of American baseball and the names of American football stars.”
Cohen said the practice is highly deceptive and puts thousands of family-wage jobs in the United States at risk. “Shouldn’t a customer have the right to know whether they are speaking with employees or contractors and where the representative is located?” he said. “Is this any different than our right to know where our clothing or TV sets are made?”