What do you think?
Rate this book
The Secret Diary of a Call Centre
Once told by a well-meaning teacher that he could be whatever he wanted to be CG has, since his first call centre job at the age of 18, spent on-and-off just over a decade in the call-centre.
From big glass-and-steel air-conditioned open plan offices to seedy backrooms in red light districts, from the public sector to the private CG has been there taking and making calls.
He’s endured the murderous rages of customers and the oppressive policies of call-time obsessed managers, surviving and maintaining his sanity only by writing it all down in his award-winning blog The Secret Diary of a Call Centre.
The book tells the story of one persons journey through call centre hall and back. Whether you are a call centre employee, or a customer this book is full of illuminating insights into the world of the call centre - a world which can be dull and oppressive with just the very occasional bit of humour.
From big glass-and-steel air-conditioned open plan offices to seedy backrooms in red light districts, from the public sector to the private CG has been there taking and making calls.
He’s endured the murderous rages of customers and the oppressive policies of call-time obsessed managers, surviving and maintaining his sanity only by writing it all down in his award-winning blog The Secret Diary of a Call Centre.
The book tells the story of one persons journey through call centre hall and back. Whether you are a call centre employee, or a customer this book is full of illuminating insights into the world of the call centre - a world which can be dull and oppressive with just the very occasional bit of humour.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2014
1 person want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 24, 2016
A blog is a blog is a blog....
I understand the author of a popular blog wanting to use the material again, but the truth is that you can get by with a lot of repetition in a blog because your followers are reading your work in batches. That same amount of repetition gathered into a book makes for a long snooze.
That said, this young man is intelligent and thoughtful and I learned some things from him. I've always thought of a "call center" as a place with a robo-calling machine and some warm bodies to follow up if anyone's foolish enough to answer the phone. I did NOT realize that large companies are "out-sourcing" their customer service departments to call centers where the operators handle calls for many different companies. This explains why a call to XYZ, Inc.'s customer service number connects you to a person who doesn't know the product or the company policies and can't put you through to anyone who does. The author's description of himself as a "customer service mercenary" hits the nail on the head.
Part of this book is simply the grumblings of a youngster with unrealistic expectations. He notes that the previous three generations of his family were small shop owners, a way of life that's no longer viable. Having grown up with kids whose fathers were small business owners, I know the long hours of hard work and sacrifice that are needed to keep a small business afloat. Nothing in this book made me feel that the author would be willing to work that hard! Things change and we must change with them. If large corporations are the order of the day, then the wise man (or woman) trains for a corporate job that's challenging and pays well. He speaks reverently of "companies with vision" but I doubt if the bottom-feeders in those companies are happy with their lot in life.
I was interested in his remarks on the modern trend toward confusing customer service with sales. They aren't the same thing at all! If I call an insurance company, true customer service would be to inform me of the least expensive policy that meets my needs. Attempting to sell me a more expensive policy that doesn't meet my needs or not telling me about a less expensive option is sales, not customer service. So is there really ANY customer service today? Not much.
This will be of greatest interest to those who work (or have worked) in a call center. I haven't and wouldn't, but I still enjoyed much of it and learned from it. The author never tells us his educational background, but at times he sounds like his colleague the philosophy student who worked at a call center until she graduated, then quit and was "happily unemployed." The PHONE MONKEY series has more funny stories about eccentric co-workers and bosses; this has well researched information about the call center industry and its future.
I understand the author of a popular blog wanting to use the material again, but the truth is that you can get by with a lot of repetition in a blog because your followers are reading your work in batches. That same amount of repetition gathered into a book makes for a long snooze.
That said, this young man is intelligent and thoughtful and I learned some things from him. I've always thought of a "call center" as a place with a robo-calling machine and some warm bodies to follow up if anyone's foolish enough to answer the phone. I did NOT realize that large companies are "out-sourcing" their customer service departments to call centers where the operators handle calls for many different companies. This explains why a call to XYZ, Inc.'s customer service number connects you to a person who doesn't know the product or the company policies and can't put you through to anyone who does. The author's description of himself as a "customer service mercenary" hits the nail on the head.
Part of this book is simply the grumblings of a youngster with unrealistic expectations. He notes that the previous three generations of his family were small shop owners, a way of life that's no longer viable. Having grown up with kids whose fathers were small business owners, I know the long hours of hard work and sacrifice that are needed to keep a small business afloat. Nothing in this book made me feel that the author would be willing to work that hard! Things change and we must change with them. If large corporations are the order of the day, then the wise man (or woman) trains for a corporate job that's challenging and pays well. He speaks reverently of "companies with vision" but I doubt if the bottom-feeders in those companies are happy with their lot in life.
I was interested in his remarks on the modern trend toward confusing customer service with sales. They aren't the same thing at all! If I call an insurance company, true customer service would be to inform me of the least expensive policy that meets my needs. Attempting to sell me a more expensive policy that doesn't meet my needs or not telling me about a less expensive option is sales, not customer service. So is there really ANY customer service today? Not much.
This will be of greatest interest to those who work (or have worked) in a call center. I haven't and wouldn't, but I still enjoyed much of it and learned from it. The author never tells us his educational background, but at times he sounds like his colleague the philosophy student who worked at a call center until she graduated, then quit and was "happily unemployed." The PHONE MONKEY series has more funny stories about eccentric co-workers and bosses; this has well researched information about the call center industry and its future.
Displaying 1 of 1 review