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This past week has been difficult. Mark is at a trade show. [Thankfully, the organizers listened to reason and he isn't exhibiting in a tent.]
So Eugene and I have been handling the phones. It's not too bad, except when one of us goes to lunch. But we have voice mail if somebody calls while we are both busy and/or away. This happened while Eugene was at lunch.
So I get a caller, Buddy, on Line 1 who needs an activation code. Before I give Buddy the code I inform him that it will work this one time so there's no need to write it down.
After I give him the code I ask him to click Finish. I see that another call is coming in on line 2. No problem. I'll be done with Buddy in a few seconds and I'll catch Line 2 before it goes to voice mail.
But wait! Buddy wants to read it back to me first. I assure Buddy that if there's a mistake we'll know as soon as he clicks Finish. Then we can just re-enter it.
Buddy informs me that he didn't type the code in; he wrote it down. I watch the Line 2 call go into voice mail and sigh inwardly.
So Buddy reads the code back to me while Line 2 starts to ring again.
I confirm the code is correct and try to disconnect so I can check the voice mail and keep ahead of things. [I always return voice mail calls before taking new calls. It's only fair.]
But Buddy want to type the code in now and have me wait to be sure it works. So Line 2 goes off to voice mail and I'm expecting to find two messages from people I need to call back. Another inward sigh.
So Buddy is almost finished when line 2 rings yet again. Then line 3 starts ringing. Fabulous.
I suspect I'm dealing with at least one serial redialer. I HATE serial redialers.
So finally I finish helping Buddy. Thanks to his inability to follow directions, I now have a serial redialer who I could have helped if Buddy had listened, but...eh. It goes with the job.
So I check voice mail while I'm listening to the phone ring and ring. Yes. There is a message. OK. I'll take care of this lady and then I can grab the phone and find out what the redial button jockey needs so badly.
Oh wait. The lady didn't give me a phone number. I could have used that as an excuse to put off calling her back until after getting the ringing phone, but suddenly I felt it would be much better customer service to look through the database for her name and find her number that way.
So I do. And I call her back and I help her out. Nice lady. The phone rang in the background while I did this.
I finish helping the lady. The phone is still ringing. I check voice mail one more time. Just in case another message was left.
There wasn't. So I grab the phone. At this point I was more curious than upset.
It was a reseller. First he exclaimed how upsetting it was that we didn't pick up the phone. I apologized that we can't answer the phone when we are helping other callers, but we have voice mail so we can call people back ASAP.
He went on about it some more, so I explained that we take calls in the order they are received and we always return voice mails before taking new calls. Therefore, the fastest way to get help if we don't pick up is to leave a message.
I cheerfully asked what could I do for him to stave off any further whining.
He needed to know the retail price for a product to quote it to a customer. So I helped him navigate to our online price list by showing him to click the large font link called PRICE LIST on the web page where he found our phone number.
So Eugene and I have been handling the phones. It's not too bad, except when one of us goes to lunch. But we have voice mail if somebody calls while we are both busy and/or away. This happened while Eugene was at lunch.
So I get a caller, Buddy, on Line 1 who needs an activation code. Before I give Buddy the code I inform him that it will work this one time so there's no need to write it down.
After I give him the code I ask him to click Finish. I see that another call is coming in on line 2. No problem. I'll be done with Buddy in a few seconds and I'll catch Line 2 before it goes to voice mail.
But wait! Buddy wants to read it back to me first. I assure Buddy that if there's a mistake we'll know as soon as he clicks Finish. Then we can just re-enter it.
Buddy informs me that he didn't type the code in; he wrote it down. I watch the Line 2 call go into voice mail and sigh inwardly.
So Buddy reads the code back to me while Line 2 starts to ring again.
I confirm the code is correct and try to disconnect so I can check the voice mail and keep ahead of things. [I always return voice mail calls before taking new calls. It's only fair.]
But Buddy want to type the code in now and have me wait to be sure it works. So Line 2 goes off to voice mail and I'm expecting to find two messages from people I need to call back. Another inward sigh.
So Buddy is almost finished when line 2 rings yet again. Then line 3 starts ringing. Fabulous.
I suspect I'm dealing with at least one serial redialer. I HATE serial redialers.
So finally I finish helping Buddy. Thanks to his inability to follow directions, I now have a serial redialer who I could have helped if Buddy had listened, but...eh. It goes with the job.
So I check voice mail while I'm listening to the phone ring and ring. Yes. There is a message. OK. I'll take care of this lady and then I can grab the phone and find out what the redial button jockey needs so badly.
Oh wait. The lady didn't give me a phone number. I could have used that as an excuse to put off calling her back until after getting the ringing phone, but suddenly I felt it would be much better customer service to look through the database for her name and find her number that way.
So I do. And I call her back and I help her out. Nice lady. The phone rang in the background while I did this.
I finish helping the lady. The phone is still ringing. I check voice mail one more time. Just in case another message was left.
There wasn't. So I grab the phone. At this point I was more curious than upset.
It was a reseller. First he exclaimed how upsetting it was that we didn't pick up the phone. I apologized that we can't answer the phone when we are helping other callers, but we have voice mail so we can call people back ASAP.
He went on about it some more, so I explained that we take calls in the order they are received and we always return voice mails before taking new calls. Therefore, the fastest way to get help if we don't pick up is to leave a message.
I cheerfully asked what could I do for him to stave off any further whining.
He needed to know the retail price for a product to quote it to a customer. So I helped him navigate to our online price list by showing him to click the large font link called PRICE LIST on the web page where he found our phone number.
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