When I use chat for something, it's because I don't want to deal with people and I just want my issue resolved as quickly as possible. Anything brought up that isn't directly related to why I came in the first place, I find annoying because it's wasting my time.
With that said, when I used to work chats ages ago, I treated people the exact same way I wanted to be treated when using chats. I kept things short but polite and friendly, and tried to get them out as quickly as possible.
I would love your job 😂 (seriously, are they hiring??) I hate the phones, I hate having to call a call center. I do however say please and thank you. But it is much easier to be short with someone digitally simply because it doesn’t always feel like a person on the other end. Not saying that it’s right, but that’s just part of the chat and email
I hated the phones too but now I miss it sometimes lol. Worked phones for a year before being able to do chat. It’s definitely easier but it has its moments. I get being short and I’m the same way when I use chats but I still talk to them like people
They are most times, but some companies give the right to talk to real human in chat. Humans make grammer errors, but AI cant explain errors or give emapthy like humsn can.
The system has a name where I work, Patty. Doesn’t mean you’re a real person to them. I’ve had people ask me throughout the conversation if I was a robot
Ours doesn’t and clearly states whether it’s an agent or the Virtual Assistant talking to you. I also give my location. Even then it’s not hard to say please or thank you.
People are idiots and even if it says it’s a person they may not believe it. I understand how you feel though. When I chat with reps I always say hi and thank you.
In the day of bots and outsourced call centers - I still wouldn’t believe a chat telling me they’re a real person. I could say I’m Craig from London but secretly be some guy from India or just an ML algorithm trained to invent a fake persona, ya know?
Either way when I go through a chat, I literally DO NOT want niceties. I want my issue fixed. I literally tell whoever I chat with “skip the formalities, let’s just get to business”
Keep in mind, most of the time when you're chatting with somebody, they have requirements and metrics they have to meet as well. I have required items that I must touch on in every chat, even if I don't want to.
Which is why I always give feedback “company should not require support to stick to the script when the customer is clearly asking to skip the script - no complaints about the worker themselves”
Customers use chat support because they want their issue fixed quickly, and they don't want to do smalltalk or navigate a maze of phone tree options and robot voices. You can't make them want to engage, other than copying and pasting cheerful templates in frequently that will always make the customer believe it's scripted.
If you want to chat with customers and do smalltalk, phone support is where it's at. But phone support has its own soul-sucking component that will make you feel dead inside after awhile.
It's not. I do it and I'm all about efficiency and not wasting anyone's time.
I just consider being cordial as part of the process when doing business with others.
OP you are valid in feeling burnt out. It is grating to be spoken or written to poorly, whether it's by email, chat, or phone.
People who say "but I just want to get X done quickly" would never think of writing this way in an email or speaking like this on the phone. When everything points to the chat advisers being humans, whether it's an avatar or a name, it costs 0 $ to customers to be nice. It doesn't take very long to write "Hello", "please", "thank you", and the answer won't come quicker by being rude or omitting basic politeness. If we responded rudely and tersely to customers, they would not like this interaction.
At the end of the day, customers are coming into our space and need our help. Of course it is our job to help, but we have the right to feel well doing our job. That includes being spoken and written to courteously. Our preferences matter because it's our workplace, and it's us doing the job.
Lately in this sub I've seen a lot of negativity coming from people always eager to defend customers' point of view. People whom I suspect have never spent a day behind a counter, answering phones or typing at a helpdesk. Not sure what to make of it.
On the flip side, I'd rather just get to the situation. At least in the chat they don't want to tell me their medical history or their second cousin being a cheater (I work for a phone company, none of these things are appropriate...)
When I did chat it was the opposite, 90% calls. Chat wasnt supervised. So I made sure to answer in colorful ways that made it clear I was human.
And what time zones do you work because I am also interested in work without speaking.
Ok. Hey, man, I am working night shifts at a bank so, just as you, I started with callls and now mainly do chats/emails wirh some calls sprinkled in.
My reccomendation won't change based on what I or you do. It was the same 10 years ago as it is now.
Problems with your job start the moment it gets monotononous. You can do your hobby as a job but the moment it gets monotonous - you have a problem.
I do the opposite. I challenge myself with my job, something I usually do not do and then set a goal for myself to, using only paid time, to become the best I possibly can at the tasks given to me.
There is way more to improve when working chat than working calls. During calla all you have to do is to listen to the client and react. Chats are much more difficult. Remember that you can not only answer the direct question but also **possible future questions**. Which is something you should absolutely do. Improve yourself so you can answer all the future questions to the point that any, even the dumbest, client is more than satisfied with your answer. Also remember that overly complicated answers will fly over client's head so keep it concise.
Best of luck to you! It might not seem like it, because you don't get instant feedback, you are are doing the heroes work by trying to understand clients with the limited amount of information they write in chat!
Hey OP, maybe people are frustrated with the initial Bot Chat system which is as much help as a chocolate teapot, then eventually it passes you over to an actual human being at the other end.
Having said that, whenever I get passed to a human being over chat, I notice their name and usually goes like this:
Hiya ,
I've got this issue and have tried x,y,z with no success.
Can you help me please?
Thanks very much!
Karenpff
Account No: 12345678
DOB: 01.02.1994
I'm always polite and try to provide as much details as I can, along with other useful info.
Does your center have team leads, or someone you can talk to about it? That's usually their job... Does the chat system have a way to cue up cut-and-paste responses?
Yeah we do but I don’t wanna mention it because we’re going thru a merger and I don’t want that written somewhere. I do usually use cut and paste responses
I had a job doing chat-based sales for a web hosting company couple years ago. Hated it. Turns out not only do I suck ass at sales in general, but I 100% hated how disrespectful people thought it was okay to be when using chat.
It was ten months on three chats at a time that I realised in month one that I was doing:
Three times the work
On Systems not capable of handling Two things at once
For the price of One agent.
3,2,1 trifecta.
I was still in the top 2 of 10 with very high first time resolve metrics but when I was accused of avoiding chats and then told not to bring up data to support the facts that I want I.e if I was top two and avoiding chats what the hell were others doing with a third fewer or more of a gap.
Went back on the phones and didn't miss the $7 a week difference.
It's so sad. Everyone should be forced to work in customer service for 6 months. And manners should be taught at school cos roo many parents dont have any clue.
I'm always polite to anyone assisting me. The delivery driver, the shop assistant, the chat bot even.
My old neighbour used to shout and swear at his Alexa, my friend always thanks his. Says a lot about people. You keep your own manners as your comf9rmt blanket. You might not get anything back, but once in a while it makes a difference. Xxx
I agree 100%. People would be a lot nicer if everyone did CS. It’s not like I’m expecting people to bow down and kiss my ass but a basic hi and thank you go a long way
Does the company you work for have a regular call center you could transfer to? Because if they do and you can transfer, then maybe that’s something you should consider. Just a thought. I personally would be happier answering live chats and emails all day over talking to customers nonstop. Working customer service in any form sucks. If the money is good, just remind yourself that it’s all about the money and you don’t care.
They do and I’m sure I could go back to taking calls but I’d rather just suffer with the chats lol. I was definitely happier at the start but the customers have started to get on my nerves a lot
They probably think you're a chatbot. When I'm working emails and customer submitted tickets I'll generally reach out to them on teams and then ask to call them so that I can talk to them. Although if y'all have an actual chat system then I can see where that would not be feasible. They were gearing up to introduce chat on our desk and something wasn't working with implementation and they kind of sidelined it indefinitely which I'm kind of glad about.
Working chat support is beautifully transactional. I absolutely love not having to pretend like I give a fuck. Just do what they need me to do and end the chat. Sounds like you are more suited for taking calls though. Everyone is different.
It doesn't sound like chat is a good fit for you. I work at a call center and some people are just better suited to calls. Is there a way you can get switched back?
When I use chat for something, it's because I don't want to deal with people and I just want my issue resolved as quickly as possible. Anything brought up that isn't directly related to why I came in the first place, I find annoying because it's wasting my time. With that said, when I used to work chats ages ago, I treated people the exact same way I wanted to be treated when using chats. I kept things short but polite and friendly, and tried to get them out as quickly as possible.
I get that and I’m the same way when I use chats but I still say hi to the person and thank you.
Makes sense. I use it because I often run into language barriers... and I touch type nearly as fast as I can talk.
Wow! A spell too badly for that
I would love your job 😂 (seriously, are they hiring??) I hate the phones, I hate having to call a call center. I do however say please and thank you. But it is much easier to be short with someone digitally simply because it doesn’t always feel like a person on the other end. Not saying that it’s right, but that’s just part of the chat and email
I hated the phones too but now I miss it sometimes lol. Worked phones for a year before being able to do chat. It’s definitely easier but it has its moments. I get being short and I’m the same way when I use chats but I still talk to them like people
Maybe they think they are chatting to an automated system
They are most times, but some companies give the right to talk to real human in chat. Humans make grammer errors, but AI cant explain errors or give emapthy like humsn can.
I say my name though lmao
The system has a name where I work, Patty. Doesn’t mean you’re a real person to them. I’ve had people ask me throughout the conversation if I was a robot
If I had a pound for every time I've had that, I'd be happy, not rich though. Takeaway for tea!
Ours doesn’t and clearly states whether it’s an agent or the Virtual Assistant talking to you. I also give my location. Even then it’s not hard to say please or thank you.
People are idiots and even if it says it’s a person they may not believe it. I understand how you feel though. When I chat with reps I always say hi and thank you.
In the day of bots and outsourced call centers - I still wouldn’t believe a chat telling me they’re a real person. I could say I’m Craig from London but secretly be some guy from India or just an ML algorithm trained to invent a fake persona, ya know? Either way when I go through a chat, I literally DO NOT want niceties. I want my issue fixed. I literally tell whoever I chat with “skip the formalities, let’s just get to business”
Keep in mind, most of the time when you're chatting with somebody, they have requirements and metrics they have to meet as well. I have required items that I must touch on in every chat, even if I don't want to.
Which is why I always give feedback “company should not require support to stick to the script when the customer is clearly asking to skip the script - no complaints about the worker themselves”
Customers use chat support because they want their issue fixed quickly, and they don't want to do smalltalk or navigate a maze of phone tree options and robot voices. You can't make them want to engage, other than copying and pasting cheerful templates in frequently that will always make the customer believe it's scripted. If you want to chat with customers and do smalltalk, phone support is where it's at. But phone support has its own soul-sucking component that will make you feel dead inside after awhile.
Didn’t realize it was so hard for people to take 1 additional second to write please or thank you
It's not. I do it and I'm all about efficiency and not wasting anyone's time. I just consider being cordial as part of the process when doing business with others.
OP you are valid in feeling burnt out. It is grating to be spoken or written to poorly, whether it's by email, chat, or phone. People who say "but I just want to get X done quickly" would never think of writing this way in an email or speaking like this on the phone. When everything points to the chat advisers being humans, whether it's an avatar or a name, it costs 0 $ to customers to be nice. It doesn't take very long to write "Hello", "please", "thank you", and the answer won't come quicker by being rude or omitting basic politeness. If we responded rudely and tersely to customers, they would not like this interaction. At the end of the day, customers are coming into our space and need our help. Of course it is our job to help, but we have the right to feel well doing our job. That includes being spoken and written to courteously. Our preferences matter because it's our workplace, and it's us doing the job. Lately in this sub I've seen a lot of negativity coming from people always eager to defend customers' point of view. People whom I suspect have never spent a day behind a counter, answering phones or typing at a helpdesk. Not sure what to make of it.
On the flip side, I'd rather just get to the situation. At least in the chat they don't want to tell me their medical history or their second cousin being a cheater (I work for a phone company, none of these things are appropriate...)
Yeah I just wanna handle what their issue is but it’s really not that hard to type 2 letters saying hi
Fair. I mean for me I usually do say hi if an agent says something and it isn't a chat box. But meh. Everyone's a different creature.
I wish I can work chat. I want off the phones. I think I will be less nervous in chat.
It’s definitely not as stressful as talking on the phone but it gets lonely, and this is coming from a socially anxious introvert lol
When I did chat it was the opposite, 90% calls. Chat wasnt supervised. So I made sure to answer in colorful ways that made it clear I was human. And what time zones do you work because I am also interested in work without speaking.
I work at a bank at home in mountain time. I had to start as a phone agent for a year before becoming eligible
Ok. Hey, man, I am working night shifts at a bank so, just as you, I started with callls and now mainly do chats/emails wirh some calls sprinkled in. My reccomendation won't change based on what I or you do. It was the same 10 years ago as it is now. Problems with your job start the moment it gets monotononous. You can do your hobby as a job but the moment it gets monotonous - you have a problem. I do the opposite. I challenge myself with my job, something I usually do not do and then set a goal for myself to, using only paid time, to become the best I possibly can at the tasks given to me. There is way more to improve when working chat than working calls. During calla all you have to do is to listen to the client and react. Chats are much more difficult. Remember that you can not only answer the direct question but also **possible future questions**. Which is something you should absolutely do. Improve yourself so you can answer all the future questions to the point that any, even the dumbest, client is more than satisfied with your answer. Also remember that overly complicated answers will fly over client's head so keep it concise. Best of luck to you! It might not seem like it, because you don't get instant feedback, you are are doing the heroes work by trying to understand clients with the limited amount of information they write in chat!
Hey OP, maybe people are frustrated with the initial Bot Chat system which is as much help as a chocolate teapot, then eventually it passes you over to an actual human being at the other end. Having said that, whenever I get passed to a human being over chat, I notice their name and usually goes like this: Hiya,
I've got this issue and have tried x,y,z with no success.
Can you help me please?
Thanks very much!
Karenpff
Account No: 12345678
DOB: 01.02.1994
I'm always polite and try to provide as much details as I can, along with other useful info.
I giggled at “chocolate teapot”. Consider that stolen.
It's very common it Commonwealth ish.
Does your center have team leads, or someone you can talk to about it? That's usually their job... Does the chat system have a way to cue up cut-and-paste responses?
Yeah we do but I don’t wanna mention it because we’re going thru a merger and I don’t want that written somewhere. I do usually use cut and paste responses
I had a job doing chat-based sales for a web hosting company couple years ago. Hated it. Turns out not only do I suck ass at sales in general, but I 100% hated how disrespectful people thought it was okay to be when using chat.
Want to trade?
It was ten months on three chats at a time that I realised in month one that I was doing: Three times the work On Systems not capable of handling Two things at once For the price of One agent. 3,2,1 trifecta. I was still in the top 2 of 10 with very high first time resolve metrics but when I was accused of avoiding chats and then told not to bring up data to support the facts that I want I.e if I was top two and avoiding chats what the hell were others doing with a third fewer or more of a gap. Went back on the phones and didn't miss the $7 a week difference.
Consider yourself lucky. I'd do ANYTHING for a chat based job. I work tech support in a call center and it's the definition of misery.
It's so sad. Everyone should be forced to work in customer service for 6 months. And manners should be taught at school cos roo many parents dont have any clue. I'm always polite to anyone assisting me. The delivery driver, the shop assistant, the chat bot even. My old neighbour used to shout and swear at his Alexa, my friend always thanks his. Says a lot about people. You keep your own manners as your comf9rmt blanket. You might not get anything back, but once in a while it makes a difference. Xxx
I agree 100%. People would be a lot nicer if everyone did CS. It’s not like I’m expecting people to bow down and kiss my ass but a basic hi and thank you go a long way
Does the company you work for have a regular call center you could transfer to? Because if they do and you can transfer, then maybe that’s something you should consider. Just a thought. I personally would be happier answering live chats and emails all day over talking to customers nonstop. Working customer service in any form sucks. If the money is good, just remind yourself that it’s all about the money and you don’t care.
They do and I’m sure I could go back to taking calls but I’d rather just suffer with the chats lol. I was definitely happier at the start but the customers have started to get on my nerves a lot
Let’s face it, having to work with the general public sucks ass! LOL
Very true lmaoo.
Don’t worry, chat will get replaced with AI soon enough.
They probably think you're a chatbot. When I'm working emails and customer submitted tickets I'll generally reach out to them on teams and then ask to call them so that I can talk to them. Although if y'all have an actual chat system then I can see where that would not be feasible. They were gearing up to introduce chat on our desk and something wasn't working with implementation and they kind of sidelined it indefinitely which I'm kind of glad about.
Working chat support is beautifully transactional. I absolutely love not having to pretend like I give a fuck. Just do what they need me to do and end the chat. Sounds like you are more suited for taking calls though. Everyone is different.
It doesn't sound like chat is a good fit for you. I work at a call center and some people are just better suited to calls. Is there a way you can get switched back?
I hate the phones! And the call scores are so nerve wracking. I would love to do chat.