Phone Rage
About the programmeThis latest Cutting Edge documentary goes inside the world of the modern call centre to meet the people who are trying to serve callers, finding out what it's like to be on the receiving end of frustrated fury.
Super agents
In the face of growing customer complaints, the call centre industry has created a whole new generation of call centre worker – the new 'super agents'. They're trained in special techniques to 'empathise' with customers, to calm even the crossest of callers.
Powergen
Energy company Powergen, now known as Eon, is trying to do things differently – and it's service-with-a-smile since director of customer service Paul Elliot took over. Once branded the worst of the energy companies for customer service, Paul realised that most of their complaints were about Powergen's Indian call centre, so he closed it down. Complaints dropped by 90 per cent.
The new frontier: South Africa
But the days of the foreign call centre are far from over. More and more British companies are turning to South Africa, the new frontier in the world of call centres. Companies say that costs are lower, the South African accent is easier for Brits to understand and the standard of service is high.
To meet the demands of South Africa's burgeoning new industry, the 'super agents' are being recruited from the townships and other poor areas. Recruits such as 23-year-old Mandisa learn how to 'neutralise' their accents, dress in a 'corporate' fashion for work (despite none of the customers being able to see them) – and learn about the funny ways of the Brits.
As Mandisa braces herself to take her very first call from the unforgiving British public, she says: 'I would just like people to see that I am a person, trying to help them. I hope they will like me – I pray they will like me.'
First Direct
But back in the UK, the internet bank First Direct reckons it holds the real secret to good customer service. While First Direct agents don't use scripts as such, they are trained to sound happy and friendly on the phone, and are taught to use 'above the line', positive language to build rapport with customers. Agents are set sales targets and paid bonuses for selling financial products to customers – the company believes that happy staff will mean happy customers.
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