CIC came by my desk the other day,and lightly admonished me for my upbeat phone voice and pleasantries, which apparently are frowned upon in my field of work.
"Remember, we're the bad guys."
I don't know why, but that phrase stuck in my craw, and I've yet to be rid of it. I've never been a bad guy before. I've always been the noble one - the one that would always go the extra mile for my customers, listen to both sides of the issue, and automatically empathize with people when I heard that little quaver belying pain in their voice that told me they were telling the truth. I'm the one that went to bat for them against the big guys, and did everything I could short of breaking the rules to help them through a rough patch.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not naive by any means, and I'm the first one to be firm with someone that I know is lying to me, or that is trying to take advantage of the system, but that's where I draw the line. Firm. When a customer was wrong, I'd gently explain why, and look for ways to break it down to the basics until they had an understanding. It was only a handful of people that managed to get under my skin and rile me up, and when they did, I'd pass the call off to a manager so I wouldn't say or do something that would reflect poorly on the company.
I can't do hostility. Which is why it bothers me so much to hear someone tell me that I'm the bad guy. I don't consider my profession a bad one - I provide a needed service to individuals and corporations. But I try to conduct myself with professionalism, and give respect to those who will return it. It's not in my nature to be confrontational, to call people out to their faces, to browbeat people into doing what I want them to do. And I've been struggling with staying true to the person that I am, and trying to be successful.
Today I proved to myself that it's okay to do it my way.
I collected 800 dollars.
That may not sound like a lot, but I handle small balance accounts, and my quota for the entire month is only 5k. This kind of collections is no walk in the park, and it can be extremely difficult to get a paycheck at the end of the day.
Anyway,
I'm proud of myself.
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1 comments:
Good job!
Gee, do they want you to wear a black cowboy hat to work, too? Just so you don't get confused again about which side you're on?
In my experience people are more willing to work with you when you sound kind and helpful, NOT calling them with an attitude of "you have our money!"
That sets a bad tone for the whole call. I think their policy is self-defeating.
You'll show them that it can be done with kindness and tact.
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