My wife is a customer service manager/trainer. Hiring actually competent people who know how to just listen to the customer and understand their needs is apparently really fucking hard. I’ve heard some stories of such dumbfuckery…
And once they are in, HR/lawyers make it so fucking hard to fire anyone. If you get a decent customer service person, either as an employer or customer, appreciate them.
I work in support; not only is it hard to find someone competent but it’s an incredibly draining job/career because of both management and customers. People are attracted to it because barrier to entry is low, and half the time the actual technical part isn’t necessarily hard, it’s the emotional baggage you’re expected to carry essentially at all times. There’s been multiple instances where I’ve been so burned out, I’m almost certain it’s permanently altered my brain chemistry. On top of that you have low wages, long hours, some places are B2B calls, expected to handle multiple chats at once, and some managers really like to snoop to see what you’re doing all day(I see your icon went idle for 3 seconds, you’re not taking a bathroom break are you? We need all hands on deck at all times).
This will never go away as long as it’s seen as a job any idiot can do. Companies need to change how they truly value support and only then will it get better for the customer. I agree with you; if you find someone good try to be appreciative because the bad ones are a dime a dozen and we are all paid shit.
My wife is only allowed to ask a very specific set of questions to candidates. She can’t deviate. It’s fucking ridiculous. This is a multi-million dollar company, but they aren’t so big to have all this process. They have maybe less than 100 total employees, certainly less than 200. I’m frustrated by proxy for her.
My wife is a customer service manager/trainer. Hiring actually competent people who know how to just listen to the customer and understand their needs is apparently really fucking hard. I’ve heard some stories of such dumbfuckery…
And once they are in, HR/lawyers make it so fucking hard to fire anyone. If you get a decent customer service person, either as an employer or customer, appreciate them.
I work in support; not only is it hard to find someone competent but it’s an incredibly draining job/career because of both management and customers. People are attracted to it because barrier to entry is low, and half the time the actual technical part isn’t necessarily hard, it’s the emotional baggage you’re expected to carry essentially at all times. There’s been multiple instances where I’ve been so burned out, I’m almost certain it’s permanently altered my brain chemistry. On top of that you have low wages, long hours, some places are B2B calls, expected to handle multiple chats at once, and some managers really like to snoop to see what you’re doing all day(I see your icon went idle for 3 seconds, you’re not taking a bathroom break are you? We need all hands on deck at all times).
This will never go away as long as it’s seen as a job any idiot can do. Companies need to change how they truly value support and only then will it get better for the customer. I agree with you; if you find someone good try to be appreciative because the bad ones are a dime a dozen and we are all paid shit.
In my experience, they always hire anyone with a pulse and pay them peanuts. Finding a competent and motivated person is a lot harder then.
The only one where they had some sort of screening was because it was support for the government
My wife is only allowed to ask a very specific set of questions to candidates. She can’t deviate. It’s fucking ridiculous. This is a multi-million dollar company, but they aren’t so big to have all this process. They have maybe less than 100 total employees, certainly less than 200. I’m frustrated by proxy for her.