jsaker@uunet.uu.net (Jamie Saker) (10/05/90)
I am a systems operator for a leading midwest telemarketing
corporation (inbound, outbound, 900 services, digital client services,
etc.). One of our corporation's clients is US Sprint -- our
Telemarketing Sales Representives place calls to residents regarding
US Sprint service.
After reading about the alleged orders/hookups made without the
owner's approval with US Sprint, I was a little curious about how the
entire process actually worked and what checks, if any, existed.
Here, essentially, is what I found out:
The order process:
1. TSR places call to resident.
2. TSR discusses scripted material with resident (the scripting is
important, I've learned, so that the TSR does not promise anything
which is untrue. I've watched a few TSRs get chewed out for deviating
from the scripting by even a narrow margin.)
3. If the resident expresses interest in the product (such as US
Sprint service). For most clients, the TSR then asks the resident if
it is all right if they record the conversation from this point.
This is important for several reasons:
o It verifies that the resident did order the service.
o It verifies that the TSR stayed with the scripting
and did not promise anything beyond the scripting in order
to place the order.
o It serves as a tool for the verifications department to
evaluate the tapes, comparing with the actual orders placed
by the TSR (It does not look good if you had 20 orders on paper
and only 9 on tape:) )
o It serves as a tool for the quality assurance department to
monitor TSRs.
4. For many clients which do not have the recorded conversation, many
of the TSRs stay late for "call backs" to residents who placed orders
(according to the orders list). This information is also used for
verifications. (This is what happened when my wife was called and
ok'ed US Sprint service -- they called us back later in the evening to
not only verify the order, but to ask if the representative was
helpful, informative, etc.)
5. During this entire process, Quality Assurance personnel are
monitoring the lines, making sure TSRs are polite, stick to scripting,
and essentially are following the guidelines outlined for TSRs.
6. After the night's calls, the verifications department goes to work
with the processed orders -- making sure that each order has gone
through the appropriate proceedures required by that particular
client.
Incomplete orders get placed into a catagory for call backs.
After this process is completed, the orders are sent out to the
clients for their processing.
From my informal "investigation," I drew the following conclusions
which shed doubt on the "wrongfully placed orders" claims:
o An order can NOT be placed without complete information
(I run the systems -- a record with an empty field will not
go through -- verifications will turn it back and representatives,
usually supervisors, will make call backs. In this case, the
TSR's identification is on the order and if it is determined that
there was a problem on the behalf of the TSR, disciplinary actions
are taken. Records without TSRs identification are also regarded
as incomplete.)
o TSRs are monitored on a regular basis -- this serves as an
additional check, besides serving as a tool for maintaining
quality calls. My informal survay places the ration of QA to
TSR at 1-20 (again, this is not official but my own guesstimation).
The QA individual I spoke with said that it is quite rare for a TSR
to not be listened to during a shift's calls.
o Any TSR sitting idle on the floor, filling out a form manually
or entering it on the computer without talking with a caller
would stick out like a proverbial "sore thumb."
Supervisors are always walking about, checking on their people,
providing assistance, and MAKING sure they are placing calls.
For those of you who have talked with a US Sprint, MCI, AT&T
telemarketer, you may recall all the questions they asked you.
(I can only speak of US Sprint -- and there are several).
The TSR would also have to:
1. Bypass all the checks (supervisors monitoring, QA, etc.)
2. Successfully guess your address and all other information
the client requests. (I am not at liberty to discuss it.)
3. Bypass either the callback or the tape verification.
In other words, it is extremely unlikely a TSR could successfully
manage to place an order for a service the resident did not request.
(I won't say impossible because there always seems to be an exception
to every rule).
I hope this helps to clarify matters on this debate. Again, my
methods were informal and do not represent the opinions of my
employer. I also do not represent US Sprint (however, our household
is quite happy with the service and rates we have received so far.)
Jamie Saker jsaker@zeus.unomaha.edu Public Relations Director
C&DC Consultant jsaker@orion.unomaha.edu UNO Student Chapter of the
"Go Hawkeyes!" JSAKER@UNOMA1 (bitnet) Assoc. for Computing Machineryyazz@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Bob Yasi) (10/06/90)
In article <13028@accuvax.nwu.edu> unocss!zeus.unomaha.edu!
jsaker@uunet.uu.net tells about his experiences in a telemarketing
organization.
He describes two verification procedures, tape recording of
conversations and call-backs to verify orders placed.
I have never been asked if it is OK to record a conversation (except
AT&T sometimes answers a call with "this call may be monitored [not
recorded BTW] for quality purposes" or something like that.
No, a telemarketer never spoke about recording anything. I can't
speakk to the verification because I've never changed LD service in
response to a telemarketing phone call.
-- Bob Yazz --jyoull@cis.ohio-state.edu (Jim Youll) (10/06/90)
In article <13028@accuvax.nwu.edu> unocss!zeus.unomaha.edu! jsaker@uunet.uu.net (Jamie Saker) writes: >In other words, it is extremely unlikely a TSR could successfully >manage to place an order for a service the resident did not request. >(I won't say impossible because there always seems to be an exception >to every rule). Fine. I haven't said a word up to this point, but am interested because it happened to ME a few months ago... One day I came to work and had US Sprint for my LD carrier, and a $5 charge on my bill for the change... I vaguely remember talking to a SPrint rep a few weeks before I realized what had been done, and distinctly said "NO. I DO NOT WANT YOUR SERVICE." Got it anyway. I think it happens a lot ... The supervisor was difficult, but put the change-back through. BUT ... I had to yell and insist on a conference call between Sprint, the local telco's manager who could arrange to take off the service-change charge, and another person. It was a mess.