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Wrong? Did you not see where I wrote "You can not have a one sided discussion?" An endless stream of emails is certainly not conducive to a quick and thorough resolution of a situation when the spoken word can be most effective and, if the need exists, can be memorialized in writing. These topics on CD are proof that the written word can sometimes distill a situation to some sort of meeting of the minds but it will often take days of disagreement and attempts at clarification when the give and take of a five minute verbal engagement could reach the same conclusion.
Remember, this topic arose from a person whose employment responsibilities include telephone conversations with clients who believes their preference for texting or emails should prevail.
I agree. Its a monologue of data. Which is NOT an open discussion.
I disagree with most who avoid the phone because documentation is everything in their world.
People ultimately want YOUR word, In voice, its called integrity. The foundation most business's should operate from. YEt instead we have the CYA folks dodging consumers and using the "Ohh but I must have it documented". True , in contract.
Yet there is more to customer service then the document. I'm just imagining how even in the court system- Verbal communications on the witness stand are strong cases. Such as "Yes I killed the man!". Pretty sure the person didn't have to write it down, email it for it to be valid. But hey, lets take ten minutes to compose an email instead of quickly and confidently answering or assisting a consumer.
Horses for courses, folks. Neither is good or bad by itself.
Need to get two people on the same sheet, quickly, especially when feeling are starting to get riled up? Phone. Need detailed documentation of what you agreed, or need to communicate something detailed and technical? Writing.
The idea that customers calling to a company using the phone number provided for that purpose and contacting people who have been hired to answer the phone, is somehow "rude and invasive"? Insane.
Wrong? Did you not see where I wrote "You can not have a one sided discussion?" An endless stream of emails is certainly not conducive to a quick and thorough resolution of a situation when the spoken word can be most effective and, if the need exists, can be memorialized in writing. These topics on CD are proof that the written word can sometimes distill a situation to some sort of meeting of the minds but it will often take days of disagreement and attempts at clarification when the give and take of a five minute verbal engagement could reach the same conclusion.
I did see that and I also did see where you wrote "A string of emails does not represent a discussion." A string would imply both sending and receiving, this is not "one-sided". Your entire premise is based on a fallacy, that the email exchange is "endless" and doesn't reach a resolution. The same could be said about phone discussions and meetings.
You really think if all of us on CD were sitting in a room we would reach agreement on these topics in a few minutes? These threads go on because there is no ultimate arbiter to limit it to 5 minutes then declare a decision. But I've certainly known issues that took dozens of phone calls and meetings and still not find agreement or resolution.
Another great thing about email/text/message is that all sides can present their positions equally and does not allow the one who talks the fastest or loudest to interrupt and dominate the discussion.
In 1895, if you wanted to ask someone a question, tell them exciting news, or get business done, you would get into your coach and go to see them. It mattered not if they were in the bathtub (home), or in the middle of helping another customer (work), as it was your only choice
By the 1920's almost 100% of America had phones. It then became much less laborious to contact someone for business purposes, and was starting to be considered rude to simply show up at someone's home without calling first, as we now had another choice. Certain businesses, like retail, of course still commanded presence, but others, such as banking, may be better served by calling first and resolving over the phone, or making an appointment so as to not rudely barge in on someone else's time
Today, we have yet another choice: email and/or text message. Today, for those businesses which actually sit and work at a computer in order to help customers and get things done, it is RUDE to call and demand to be helped immediately. It says to the person receiving the call "I don't care how busy you are, what you are doing, or how invasive it is for you to have you stop, drop, and help me immediately. *I* am the most important person in the world, and whomever you're currently helping is dirt under my feet".
If it were, say, a retail store, where you actually WANT foot traffic, you still would not barge into a conversation and force the salesperson to drop what they're doing and help you in favor of who they were already helping.
Even in medical situations, if it is not an emergency life or death situation, you make an appointment, often by computer and not phone.
Calling is aggressive, invasive, and rude if email is a choice you have, and you do not have an emergency.
As upset as you present, perhaps you should research another line of work that doesn't require you to answer phone calls.
Hopefully your irritation doesn't come across in your voice during a call.
As upset as you present, perhaps you should research another line of work that doesn't require you to answer phone calls.
Hopefully your irritation doesn't come across in your voice during a call.
That's what I have been trying- apparently not succeeding- to say.
My job IS one where I don't have to take calls, and calls should not come in as they do. Some are warranted and I do not mind helping those folks at all. Many are just ridiculous. As an office, we get perhaps 50 calls per day average, and we should get about 6.
Sometimes people will ask something like "what's the phone number for....", and so I politely, and with my sweetest customer service voice, respond "Let me Google search that for you" - actually thinking "because apparently you do not have google, or have not heard of google....in 2019....expletive expletive"
Meanwhile such a ridiculous call makes me forget where I was in the process of all the math, contract interpretation, and long chains of memorization I have to do, and the very thing I was working on is now all fd up....because I had to do a GOOGLE search for a phone number. Seriously????
That's what I have been trying- apparently not succeeding- to say.
My job IS one where I don't have to take calls,
If you don't have to take calls why do you go through the charade of calling yourself and putting your call on hold?
and calls should not come in as they do.
Is this your assessment or that of your employer?
Some are warranted and I do not mind helping those folks at all. Many are just ridiculous. As an office, we get perhaps 50 calls per day average, and we should get about 6.
Who says you should get only six if you are getting so many more?
Sometimes people will ask something like "what's the phone number for....",
If they're asking for the phone number of Burger King, the bus company or a babysitter you may be correct but I get the idea you have a problem giving them the number for a different department in your organization or a related one that is crucial to the task you're supposed to be performing which would make it part of the customer service process.
and so I politely, and with my sweetest customer service voice, respond "Let me Google search that for you" - actually thinking "because apparently you do not have google, or have not heard of google....in 2019....expletive expletive"
Meanwhile such a ridiculous call makes me forget where I was in the process of all the math, contract interpretation, and long chains of memorization I have to do, and the very thing I was working on is now all fd up....because I had to do a GOOGLE search for a phone number. Seriously????
Perhaps since you are telling us here how difficult it is for you to multi task you should be given a job that is not so challenging.
Even in medical situations, if it is not an emergency life or death situation, you make an appointment, often by computer and not phone.
Calling is aggressive, invasive, and rude if email is a choice you have, and you do not have an emergency.
Just like with a text or email, a person has a choice whether to answer a call or not. Usually if one chooses to to ignore a call, the caller has a choice of leaving a voice message or not. Calling is much more personal than a text or email and a preferred mode of communication by most older people that I know. FYI - In my area, most medical appointments are still made by the phone and many medical offices call the patient to remind them of scheduled appointments by phone. Therefore I completely disagree with your statement.
That's what I have been trying- apparently not succeeding- to say.
My job IS one where I don't have to take calls, and calls should not come in as they do. Some are warranted and I do not mind helping those folks at all. Many are just ridiculous. As an office, we get perhaps 50 calls per day average, and we should get about 6.
Then tell your supervisor that you don't want to answer the phone anymore.
But if you don't want your job anymore, someone else will gladly take it - someone who doesn't find phone calls to be so mentally taxing and challenging.
However, my solution is to answer the damn thing when and if I feel like it.
Exactly - that's why there's a 'ring' on the darn thing!
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