Customer service

UPDATE 25June 2005 @ 1.20AM
DO NOT click if there's a link in the title. I didn't put anything there and for some reason, it opens into a strange URL.

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Someone asked me about contact (call) centres and I said it was a calling for punishment. It was meant as a sort-of joke. Because really, there's nothing like being screamed at by a complete stranger to make you feel good, eh?

But I've been doing it for a long time. And customer service isn't just exemplified by those overworked and sullen souls sitting behind a counter. Lest you think otherwise, allow me to explain.

I've done event management and conference administration. That's customer service. I took phone calls. I serviced requests. In fact, I started out doing out-bound telemarketing for conference numbers. In that industry, I grew into the job, bacame a department manager, and found that not was I running conferences, I was doing customer escalation. That's a lot worse, let me tell you!

The I went into Below-The-Line marketing. THAT was interesting. My first encounter with the general public. FMCG-type clients. And how was that customer services, you ask? Why, we ran direct mktg campaigns, organised seminars & roadshows, gave life to loyalty programs and managed hotline & tele-service programmes. All of which required deft, delicate but determined staff who acquired, pacified, consoled (and made friends with) customers of our clients. I had a wonderful team that worked hard for me, and I actually missed them when I left for the Hotel job. And amongest all this, again, I did customer escalation.

Customer service is a lot more than you think. Some of us aren't that sullen. Some of us always have a smile to offer (yes, over the phone too). And some of us have the bloody patience of Job. Training is as nothing without the desire to serve and help. And we do.


Alas, that Singaporeans have a lot to learn