It's All in the Attitude
For the past few weeks I've gone into work dreading having to deal with stroppy people and a manager who doesn't seem to know how to manage. I learned today that I've been going about it all wrong.
Yesterday had to have been the worst. The manager didn't listen to what I was saying when he asked me questions. I ended up arguing with someone working in a call centre in India. By the time I headed home, I had a splitting headache and a need to take out my frustrations on my DIY project.
This morning I told myself that I was going to have a great day at work, and guess what happened ...
My manager actually paid attention to my answers to his questions. He even approved my request for a couple of days holiday in July when I sent it to him and thought it was cool that I'm taking them off to go to the British Grand Prix. The garages and fleet managers I spoke to on the phone were all happy to send me the information I needed because I was pleasant and friendly. Okay, I'm always pleasant and friendly but I think my positive attitude came across down the phone.
Best of all, when I had to deal with the same call centre in India, I kept that pleasant and friendly manner when the stroppy cow at the other end started making threats. I kept my cool while she ranted and raved, and in the end I got the information I needed, and she finally realise that I was there to help her get the claim we were both working on settled. My co-worker who originally took the call (and passed it through to me because her blood pressure was rising) said that she couldn't have done it without putting the phone down on her. I think the thing that got to Jo most was when she told the other woman that she was through to the claims centre in Chesterfield and got the reply "Where the hell is Chesterfield?"
I learned another lesson today. Estate agents are total flirts. One of my fleets is made up of nothing but estate agents who keep crashing their cars or putting petrol in their tanks instead of diesel (do you realise how much it costs to fix a BMW after someone has misfueled it?). Compared to a stroppy cow in India they were a joy to talk to, and I got the biggest laugh when one guy was chatting me up when I knew he'd reported the claim after his wife crashed the car!
Work could become even more fun. They're trying really hard to hire new staff, but so far out of the last four people they've hired, I'm the only one who has lasted more than one day. Two rang up to quit before they even started. We were all asked today to pass on applications if we know anyone who might be interested in a job, and Donna has filled one out! How cool would it be if she worked there?
Yesterday had to have been the worst. The manager didn't listen to what I was saying when he asked me questions. I ended up arguing with someone working in a call centre in India. By the time I headed home, I had a splitting headache and a need to take out my frustrations on my DIY project.
This morning I told myself that I was going to have a great day at work, and guess what happened ...
My manager actually paid attention to my answers to his questions. He even approved my request for a couple of days holiday in July when I sent it to him and thought it was cool that I'm taking them off to go to the British Grand Prix. The garages and fleet managers I spoke to on the phone were all happy to send me the information I needed because I was pleasant and friendly. Okay, I'm always pleasant and friendly but I think my positive attitude came across down the phone.
Best of all, when I had to deal with the same call centre in India, I kept that pleasant and friendly manner when the stroppy cow at the other end started making threats. I kept my cool while she ranted and raved, and in the end I got the information I needed, and she finally realise that I was there to help her get the claim we were both working on settled. My co-worker who originally took the call (and passed it through to me because her blood pressure was rising) said that she couldn't have done it without putting the phone down on her. I think the thing that got to Jo most was when she told the other woman that she was through to the claims centre in Chesterfield and got the reply "Where the hell is Chesterfield?"
I learned another lesson today. Estate agents are total flirts. One of my fleets is made up of nothing but estate agents who keep crashing their cars or putting petrol in their tanks instead of diesel (do you realise how much it costs to fix a BMW after someone has misfueled it?). Compared to a stroppy cow in India they were a joy to talk to, and I got the biggest laugh when one guy was chatting me up when I knew he'd reported the claim after his wife crashed the car!
Work could become even more fun. They're trying really hard to hire new staff, but so far out of the last four people they've hired, I'm the only one who has lasted more than one day. Two rang up to quit before they even started. We were all asked today to pass on applications if we know anyone who might be interested in a job, and Donna has filled one out! How cool would it be if she worked there?
posted by Melinda at 1/03/2007 07:53:00 pm
1 Comments:
I'm not going to go into the crap I had to put up with the other day when I asked (politely, I thought) a co-worker for help when I was getting overwhelmed with alarms.
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