Reply to: Say "No" to requests for directions

[Board Game Geek]

An astonishing synopsis of the dynamics of customer service! you seem to believe that the whole relationship between customer and client (and presumably all relationships betwen human beings) is one of confrontation.

I prefer to use the term "firmly managed". After all, diplomacy is all about speaking firmly and carrying a big stick.

With regards to offering to sort out the toilets and the aircon...I'm afraid that just reeks (no pun intended) of Arfur Daleyism.

I'd be concerned if my RA started doing a nice little sideline in bog cleaning, aircon maintenance and roadside kebab vans. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence does it ? I wouldn't want my company to employ Del Boy and Sons to do recruitment.

(I hope the Poles are not over 22 years old...£5.25 per hour Nat Min Wage)

[DodgyAgent]

BGG

An astonishing synopsis of the dynamics of customer service! you seem to believe that the whole relationship between customer and client (and presumably all relationships betwen human beings) is one of confrontation. No wonder you lot are so marginalised in the IT industry.

Let me tell you how I would deal with this:

At what point, when the Client rings up, and says "Could you sort out some recruitment, and we have a blocked toilet, and the air con is wonky, and we need a new fax machine, and the windows are grubby" do you say, "erm, feck off...I'm a RA" ?

The client has thrown me a problem (odd one at that) to which I would ask:

"If I can sort these problems out for you can I have your recruitment business for the next 6 months on an exclusive basis"? (to test how serious the problems are assuming he has insisted that we supply "all" the services).
If he says yes then I go away and ask an agency to sort out the labour for the plumbing and air con.. after all how hard can it be to find a couple of cheap Poles on £5.00 per hour?

I then ring the client up and say

"OK I have a proposal for you that I believe will sort out all of your problems and it will cost you "X". I am happy to do this not only now but on an ongoing basis I will give you 24 hour coverage on your "bog and aircon maintenance in return for an exclusive on all of your recruitment business for 6 months" And we then negotiate from there.

"And by the way Mr client you know that miserable jobsworth contractor who refused to stick his hand down your personal khazi and fish out those two awkward turds for you ? well we also replace him with someone who not only costs less, does the job better but also has a PHD in turd fishing"

THAT' s customer service. The client is happy, I am happy and two Poles are happy, and Board Game Geek is back to jobserve

One man's problem is another man's opportunity

[DodgyAgent]

BGG

An astonishing synopsis of the dynamics of customer service! you seem to believe that the whole relationship between customer and client (and presumably all relationships betwen human beings) is one of confrontation. No wonder you lot are so marginalised in the IT industry.

Let me tell you how I would deal with this:

At what point, when the Client rings up, and says "Could you sort out some recruitment, and we have a blocked toilet, and the air con is wonky, and we need a new fax machine, and the windows are grubby" do you say, "erm, feck off...I'm a RA" ?

The client has thrown me a problem (odd one at that) to which I would ask:

"If I can sort these problems out for you can I have your recruitment business for the next 6 months on an exclusive basis"? (to test how serious the problems are assuming he has insisted that we supply "all" the services).
If he says yes then I go away and ask an agency to sort out the labour for the plumbing and air con.. after all how hard can it be to find a couple of cheap Poles on £5.00 per hour?

I then ring the client up and say

"OK I have a proposal for you that I believe will sort out all of your problems and it will cost you "X". I am happy to do this not only now but on an ongoing basis I will give you 24 hour coverage on your "bog and aircon maintenance in return for an exclusive on all of your recruitment business for 6 months" And we then negotiate from there.

"And by the way Mr client you know that miserable jobsworth contractor who refused to stick his hand down your personal khazi and fish out those two awkward turds for you ? well we also replace him with someone who not only costs less, does the job better but also has a PHD in turd fishing"

THAT' s customer service. The client is happy, I am happy and two Poles are happy, and Board Game Geek is back to jobserve

[Board Game Geek]

DA...are you serious ? I mean really ? C'mon, stop mucking about, but your answer was trollbait (ok I bit)

What you said, DA, was essentially that person X, who worked for company Y, should know the answer to question Z.

I shall test that theory Monday morning.

I shall ring up a Secretary (x), who works for a Doctor's Surgery (y) and ask here about the GPSOC NHS IT requirements as issued by the Department of Health (z).

When she tells me to feck off, I shall pass her your number :-)

To be honest, Client's expect too fecking much these days and they need to be put in their place.

I used to hope that Rec Agents had the balls to say No to their Clients and tell them when they were being unreasonable, but it seems that RA's are more concerned with telling the Client's what they want to hear, as opposed to maintaining professional integrity and honour.

The first rule in a Client / Service relationship is to obtain the upper hand and seek short-term tactical and long-term strategic advantage over the Client. You are not there to serve the Client. You are there to dictate the terms in which the Client engages business with you.

If you cannot do that, then you may as well be asking the Client "Would you like fries with that?"

So when the Client rings and speaks to Emily, the complete numpty work experience girl (x) about the special offer on recruitment this month only (y) that Agent Jones (z) is dealing with, Emily is quite within her rights to admonish the Client and say "You know Agent Jones is dealing with that. He'll call you back when it's convenient".

Put the Client in their place. Show them who is boss.

Respected wisdom has been that the Client is always boss, and it has been this way for the last xyz years. However, a number of articles I have read in Wired and some more underground magazines have started to eulogise that this concept needs turning on it's head and that that customer needs to be reminded that they should be grateful that you exist as a service to fulfill their needs.

Furthermore, it dispels the idea that a customer lost is a potential income source wasted. It acutally explains that that customer would have been a negative drain on your resources, and that you need to focus on more positive-revenue customers, who are more numerous that you think.

Anyway I've digressed.

DA, you are employed to do Job x. (Put bums on seats).

At what point, when the Client rings up, and says "Could you sort out some recruitment, and we have a blocked toilet, and the air con is wonky, and we need a new fax machine, and the windows are grubby" do you say, "erm, feck off...I'm a RA" ?

Or would you yourself ring the client and say " DA Enterprises have a blocked toilet, and the air con is wonky, and we need a new fax machine, and the windows are grubby" ? and expect them to sort out your problem ?

My point being, there is a point when you need to firmly put the Client in their place and remind them that they have overstepped the mark.

The same holds true of contractors and their agencies, who need a slapping from time to time.

And the same holds true for contractors, who need a slap by their agencies from time to time.

Mass slapping....yaay...........

[vetran]

I think that the term you are alluding to is a 'jobsworth'.

Why is someone who takes this approach so despised? I mean, if someone asked you a pc techie question would you not become a 'jobsworth' by not wishing to get involved?

If I was standing in the middle of PC world wearing their uniform then it would be my job. What happened to the customers always right?

[DodgyAgent]

From the looks of it your the sort of person that sits in front of his PC refreshing the screen every 30 secs to see if someone has posted a reply to your message. So sad.

[floatsy]

I asked some employee of British rail at Waterloo the other week which platform trains left for Basingstoke as all the electronic boards were down. He said that I am a ticket inspector and I dont give directions.

Heard a similar story on another thread.

True story too:

A week/two ago got on bus and asked the driver if it went to cricklewood broadway, and he said: "I don't know, I'm just the busdriver"

No sh*t!

[TheRightStuff]

Just make sure you take your full hour

just got back. 1hr? Are you joking?
It's Friday afternoon so it's illegal to take anything less. Isn't it.
Relationship with client is still good. A few drinks, food and a good laugh.
Hope you haven't been waiting too long DA.
From the looks of it your the sort of person that sits in front of his PC refreshing the screen every 30 secs to see if someone has posted a reply to your message. So sad.

[Paddy]

Had the same at Waterloo, no signs working and nobody knew what train was going where. Another time I was in Bexley, the signs were down and read “Listen to announcements” There were no announcements and so I complained to the ticket office. I was told to look at the sign on the front of the train.

The next train in had on the sign, “Out of Order”

The classic one was a train out of Waterloo that was diverted to the wrong line. Passengers were frantically phoning National Rail Enquiries who new nothing. The train guard announced that he did not know what was going on. It took an hour to shunt back on to the main line.

[DodgyAgent]

All this because you disagree with what I did. Thanks.



off to lunch with my client now -

P.S bothered

Just make sure you take your full hour

[Burdock]

I was trying to identify the the platform for a train a foreign visitor needed at Victoria, which I knew was due to leave soon. I couldn't find the information on the electronic board so I asked the person at the gate. He told me to look at the board. I told him I was asking him because I couldn't find the information on the board. He told me to look at the board. I tried repeatedly to ask the question and explain in as many ways possible that I hadn't been able to get the information from the board, and he just kept repeating exactly the same sentence each time.

Did you punch him?

[TheRightStuff]

The point that I am making is that in the case of Rightstuff's refusal to help his client he displays the mentality of a 1960's trade unionist. The client has a problem that he wants some help with and the contractor refuses because it is "not his job". If anyone in my company ever turned to me and said that in similar circumstances I would not be pleased.



All he has to do is see the request as a client's problem, and help the client with a solution to the problem. If the client asks him to interview 100 people and do his contract work on time then that is unreasonable.

The world works not according to a fixed set of rules but according to mutual compromises and agreements determined by a whole host of real time issues and emotions. The guy has a problem not a job vacancy, the contractor is there to help solve clients problems not "do a job". If for example a client asks me if I can include a contractor from another agency in a lunch for him and my other contractors, I am not going to shake my contract in his face and say no am I?

All this because you disagree with what I did. Thanks.



off to lunch with my client now -

P.S bothered

[DodgyAgent]

Maybe he was a recruitment consultant?

Why, did he ask for references?

[angusglover]

I was trying to identify the the platform for a train a foreign visitor needed at Victoria, which I knew was due to leave soon. I couldn't find the information on the electronic board so I asked the person at the gate. He told me to look at the board. I told him I was asking him because I couldn't find the information on the board. He told me to look at the board. I tried repeatedly to ask the question and explain in as many ways possible that I hadn't been able to get the information from the board, and he just kept repeating exactly the same sentence each time.

Maybe he was a recruitment consultant?

[IR35 Avoider]

I asked some employee of British rail at Waterloo the other week which platform trains left for Basingstoke as all the electronic boards were down. He said that I am a ticket inspector and I dont give directions.

Heard a similar story on another thread.

I was trying to identify the the platform for a train a foreign visitor needed at Victoria, which I knew was due to leave soon. I couldn't find the information on the electronic board so I asked the person at the gate. He told me to look at the board. I told him I was asking him because I couldn't find the information on the board. He told me to look at the board. I tried repeatedly to ask the question and explain in as many ways possible that I hadn't been able to get the information from the board, and he just kept repeating exactly the same sentence each time.