Welcome to the course and thanks for accessing this ‘out of training room’ reading and task!

Please read the following entries. Take your time and get an understanding of how it relates to getting a good experience in your work.

Please leave a comment ( polite but not too polite !!! ) to show me you were here. In the Comment please say how your experience agrees or disagrees with the comments in the texts. Remember, these texts don’t only talk about working in a Customer Service Centre, they mention wider life situations, too. Please write at least 12 lines, many thanks. Teacher Michael.

Too Polite?!*@@@

http://www.37signals.com/svn/archives2/customer_service_that_is_too_polite.php

Customer service that is too polite 15 Sep 2005

34 comments Latest by Florence

It seems the pendulum has swung a bit too far to the other side now. The opposite of poor customer service seems to be over exuberant, customer service dripping with exaggerated politeness. And I’ve been noticing a lot of it lately.

For example, I just spoke with SBC this morning to turn on phone service and the first thing they said was “We’re so sorry you had to call us to take care of this simple issue” then they kept repeating “I’m confident I can help you with that sir” after which I said “thanks” and they said “oh, our pleasure, we just want to make sure you’re happy.” And then after they hit me up for LineBacker insurance (which guards against their own $71 + $25 for 15 minute labor charge), they just wanted me to know that “we’re looking out for you so you don’t get hit with an expensive charge. We want to give you the best deal we can.” That’s golden: We’re guarding you from our own high rates. That’s a win-win for the phone company if I’ve ever seen one.

Real conversations are never filled with this much sucking up (unless there’s an ulterior motive). It just feels fake. I feel like I’m talking to a robot with the “be nice” dial turned up to 11. If I’m talking to a human, act a human. Companies need to have real conversations with their customers. Exaggerated politeness may be preferable to rude customer service, but it feels defensive and contrived from the start.

34 comments so far (Jump to latest)

“It just feels fake.”

Most times I just want to get the phone call over with. I hate having to go through all the polite rhetoric because that means I have to be polite in return.

Real 2 Real 15 Sep 05

My favorite was AT&T Wireless (before I dropped them), where you would tell them “I just need you to fix foo”, they fix foo, then you say “okay great, that was the only thing I needed help with today, thanks” to which they would reply “is there anything else I can help you with today”.

Beware of the script robots!

For you 5% of managers that already know that I want to interact with a human who is genuinely motivated to keep the good name of your company (i.e. is treated with respect and is actually valued as a human and not a breathing teleprompter) and will solve my problem to that end without using scripts or silly new processes and metrics – I say thank you and have a nice day!

Mark Gallagher 15 Sep 05

“It just feels fake”

.

I take it you’ve never worked in a call center before. jeez, give these people a little credit. They aren’t idiots.

if you lived in a small town a generation or two ago, you knew everyone was raised pretty much the same as you were. everyone knew what ‘polite’ was, how to communicate it & what to expect from

when you’re staffing a call center, employing people from all over who will be talking to people from all over, there’s (perhaps) no time to size up employees values & communication skills, (perhaps) too much risk in leaving it to their discretion.

and so we have auto-generic-scripts with auto-generic-personality

I intensly dislike insincere corporate mandated robot politeness. It’s not real and therefore it’s noise.

I’ve asked a couple of customer service reps, that seemed genuinely friendly, and asked them for their take on the required speech. Turns out they disliked it more than I did, but still had to do it. All day long.

The goodjust get through it and give real help and the bad ones hide behind it and no one is fooled. In the end it’s just a waste of time and, in my opinion, actually takes away from the experience.

Have a nice day… It has been my pleasure to comment on your blog… Please post again if you need further politeness.

Levi 15 Sep 05

I remember once when I called 411 to get a number to a restaurant and the guy was all goofy. When I asked for the restaurant he said “Goin’ out tonight, huh?” And when he gave me the listing he was all approving of my choice for dinner: “Very nice, man.”

I think I’d call 411 more often if he answered the phone.

Dan H 15 Sep 05

I had some issues with Qwest, and they have this “spirit of service” mission that’s nice, but really translates into everyone in the call center saying “I understand”. They say it even if they don’t understand. Positive verbal feedback is pointless if there’s no real action happening behind it. Sure, I may feel happy because there’s a therapist on the end of the line understanding me, but my damn DSL still doesn’t work. The “spirit of service” should include not only good call centers (that are human-like) but the very telco service I’m paying them money for. (I’m no longer with Qwest, had to switch to TimeWarner. I don’t like them either.)

Sometimes at the end of comments like this, I wonder if the last five minutes were well spent. Why do we do this blog commenting thing? Sigh.

Richard Brownell 15 Sep 05

I can see how politeness can go too far, but this robot speak is necessary. I’ve worked at a call center before. I honestly didn’t care most of the time. And plenty of people were worse than me. You either get somebody who doesn’t care and shows you they don’t care or you get corporate robot speak. There are very few people in the world who strive to get paid very little to be on the phone all day. I’ve met one thus far, and he actually ended up being fired from the call center

Plus, corporate robot speak isn’t just fed by managers; it comes from marketing, PR, and legal (if not other places depending on the company). Scripts for various issues can come from all over. Once you’ve read various scripts 100 times a day to people on the other line who usually ARE rude, you’re guaranteed to sound like a robot.

Mathew Patterson 15 Sep 05

understanding is far far worse than real disinterest.

This whole post makes me think of doors that sigh with pleasure to serve you.

Darrel 15 Sep 05

Well, the fake sincerity screams ‘I don’t care about you’ just as much as being rude. At least being rude is more ‘real’. Ie, ‘I have this shitty paying job with crappy management dealing with angry customers all day’.

My favorite comes from AT&T:

Due to the overwhelmingly positive response we’ve received from customers, your hold time may be substantial.

I was stuck in a long line at a Border’s bookstore the other day. The annoying part was, the checkout clerk was making it longer by chatting with every customer, providing a personal, super-friendly service. As I watched him go through his comedy routine with the customer in front of me, I was actually dreading talking to him.

Finally it was my turn, and as I gave him my book he started up his comedy schtick. I looked him in the eye and asked, “Are you high?”

wdk 15 Sep 05

It is something I’ve hated in all realms of customer service for a while now, whether be shopping for a record, going to a restaurant, etc. I just got back from a trip to Europe and there was none of that over there. It was much more genuine and real.

Scrivs 15 Sep 05

This fake politeness causes them to ask dumb questions. Everytime I call my cable company, Cox Communications, they ask, “May I access your account information?”

I am always tempted to say “no” just to see how they would continue.

Vaughn 15 Sep 05

I’m sorry, I just have to disagree here! I realize that sugary sweet customer service can be annoying, however, it is a welcome change in this world of corporate power — where, generally, they couldn’t give a sh*t that you’re calling!

Tone of voice counts for something. I had no problem agreeing with the SBC rep that my experience with her was pleasant. It was.

I like the friendly, personal and informal tone of the basecamps, flickrs and textdrive’s. It’s one of the reasons I use them.

.

a couple of people have pointed out, the overbearing politeness of CSR’s tends to engender a response in kind from Hapless Punter, who goes all squishy and malleable.

It’s a mechanism for taking control; by providing and maintaining the boundaries of communication, any call can be shoehorned into one of a number of pre-determined Outcomes.

I’ve been working in a call center for more than eight years, and truly believe that exagerated politeness on part of the representative is noticed and considered less than acceptable, specially if those we are communicating with are patients. We have a co-worker, who strives to be the friendliest, smartest, and most of all, the most articulated person in our department. And to tell you the truth, it doesn’t feel natural. I can only imagine how it sounds on the other line. In my opinion, being overly polite, using sofisticated terminology doesn’t necessarily make any one and effective cusomer service provider.

I am not perfect, but try to provide the best service possible without pretending.

http://www.youmeworks.com/toopolite.html

YOU WERE TRAINED FROM Day One to be polite and attentive to the wishes of others because, of course, it is the courteous thing to do. And when you’re courteous, people won’t be upset with you as often and you’ll avoid uncomfortable confrontations and awkward moments.

It’s perfectly understandable that parents would want their child to be polite. Parents don’t like to be embarrassed. Besides, they want to help the child avoid being shunned by their peers. Being rude makes enemies. So does being selfish.

So it is important for parents to train their children to be courteous.

But there is also such a thing as “too much of a good thing.” Courtesy and kindness can be overlearned — to the point where the person doesn’t even know what he wants any more — where he’ll stand there and listen to the worthless ramblings of an idiot who just likes to talk, without the guts to be “rude” and excuse himself because he’s got better things to do.

Someone who has overlearned politeness will be too easily persuaded by family members that such-and-such is right and good, only to figure out later that it’s not right and good for him, now that he thinks about it.

When you don’t know what you want — when politeness dominates self-awareness — other people’s wants hold the floor for lack of opposition. They win by default, as when two parties are scheduled for a hearing and one of the parties doesn’t show. The one who shows up wins automatically by default.

What’s lacking when you’re too polite is a healthy level of selfishness. If you’ve been trained from early on to suppress your own wishes, you may suppress them right out of existence. And that doesn’t benefit anybody.

This kind of unhealthy politeness only happens in relation to others. Just about everyone can pursue their own agenda when they’re by themselves. It is in the presence of other people that the social inhibitions laid down in childhood exert their powerful influence. What they influence are our feelings.

What’s missing is a simple knowledge of what we want, what we ourselves would like to see happen, and the willingness to try to make it happen — even when someone else might not like it. And what’s needed is the willingness to say what we want.

If you are suffering from excess courtesy, here’s what to do: Start small. In little situations every day, make small goals. Ask yourself “What do I want here?” or “What do I think would be the best thing to happen in this situation?” And then try to make it happen.

Inevitably, you’ll run into someone else with a different agenda. This other person has a different outcome in mind. She doesn’t know about your goal. So you need to let her know what you want.

Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re being rude. Sometimes the other person will think you’re rude. If, like you, she’s been overtrained in courtesy and undertrained in healthy selfishness, she’ll take up your agenda and help make it happen, or at least she won’t oppose you.

If, on the other hand, she is able to say what she wants, the two of you can negotiate. One way or the other, you need to know what you want and you must be willing to speak up about it.

Know what you want and speak up about it.

———————————————–

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080926125922AAEFscH

Resolved Question

Show me another »

Is it possible to be “too” polite?

Yes. First, being overly polite can be perceived as weird, needy, weak and it can create a negative vibe. It has to be done right. Second, you can also open the door to people taking advantage of you. Be polite in a way you would want someone to be polite with you.

Yes, my wife is this way. I constantly am reminding her to speak her mind politely instead of letting others dictate her actions. I on the other hand am a polar opposite and sometimes can be seen as rude as I have no problem holding back. I try to be polite but it doesn’t always work.

———–

I think it depends on the person your being “too” polite too. Some people will take your politeness and return it. Others will take it and walk all over you. I think you have to base it on the person your directing it to.

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It is possible to politely refuse to let people walk all over you so, no, I don’t think it is possible to be too polite. I am Canadian, as a matter of fact. ( don’t know what this means! Ed:Teacher Mike )

———

Yes, I am polite to every one…. and there are some people who mistake it for weakness.

———

i’m too polite as well, to the extent where i let people walk over me!

————–

no way! being polite is a good thing!

Too polite to dump my boyfriend

Is it better to be alone and miserable or coupled and miserable?

Getting Personal with Dr. Gail Saltz

Dr. Gail Saltz is a psychiatrist with New York Presbyterian Hospital and a regular contributor to TODAY. Her latest book is “Anatomy of a Secret Life: The Psychology of Living a Lie.” For more information, you can visit her Web site, www.drgailsaltz.com.

Q. I am a busy, career-oriented person who doesn’t have a lot of time to date (I am a newly-minted medical doctor). Last spring, after ending an intense relationship with a colleague, I attempted online dating. I have been seeing a man I met this way since summer.

When we met, sparks didn’t fly, exactly. I found myself dominating the conversation, planning all of our outings and wearing the proverbial pants. But I couldn’t bring myself to break it off. I figured that I just needed to give him a chance.

Story continues below ↓advertisement

As our relationship developed (mostly on weekends, as he lives an hour away), our personality differences became even more evident. I value integrity, motivation, success, modesty and responsibility. Although he is responsible, he isn’t as driven to succeed. Furthermore, at the risk of sounding arrogant, he doesn’t challenge me intellectually the way my last boyfriend did. I find it difficult, and sometimes even painful, to have intelligent discourse with him. He isn’t very articulate, nor is he interested in the same kind of intellectual pursuits as myself. He likes to sit at home with movies and computer games. I feel we are in a rut after only nine months.

The problem I am having in breaking it off, however, is that he treats me very well. I have had past boyfriends who were lacking in the chivalry department. This guy has all the right moves.

Still, I can’t get over our lack of intellectual and social compatibility, and I find myself feeling increasingly resentful. I’m extremely involved when it comes to my career and community (I volunteer, sit on committees and teach in my limited spare time), and I’m a social person by nature. I can’t help feeling like a bad person, and that I am looking a gift horse in the mouth. My single female colleagues complain about being unable to find a man who is old-fashioned and chivalrous, and this guy definitely is.

But I’m reaching a breaking point. I have already met his family and he is pushing to meet mine. We both made it clear at the outset that we were looking for a serious relationship, not a casual one. Despite my intentions at the beginning of our relationship, I simply can’t see myself spending my life with this man.

He thinks everything is perfect — he has even said he loves me — but I simply don’t reciprocate his feelings. I’m afraid that my job performance is suffering from all of my worry. Deep down, I’d really like to break it off. Sometimes I dread having to be intimate with him — but, at the same time, I fear being alone again. I feel like I’m staying with him out of convenience, comfort and indecisiveness. What should I do?

A. It’s clear to me that you should do both of you a favor and break up.

I find it strange that someone with such extreme negative feelings is so torn. From what you say, you don’t even like this man very much, let alone love him.

Medicine is a healing profession. It’s fine in terms of your career to be the healer and the saver — but it’s not fine to let this kind of altruistic impulse so influence your life that you are overcome with the need to rescue everything in your path.

This man sounds like a perfectly nice guy, but that doesn’t mean he is right for you. If, after nine months, you feel no attraction or affection toward him, then you probably never will. You already find it “painful” to converse with him, and you “dread” being intimate. Your resentment of him will only grow over time.

It’s also surprising that you let the relationship get this far. You didn’t especially like this man from the beginning. He lives an hour away. You didn’t meet him in a typical social context, like through friends or school. It should have been very easy for this relationship to be a nonstarter. I wonder why you didn’t simply end things after one or two dates.

It’s possible that you feel so guilty and uncomfortable saying no that you couldn’t force yourself to initiate a breakup in the early stages, and you still can’t.

But it isn’t necessary to act like such a “good girl” that you end up sacrificing your own happiness in order to please others.

Staying together in the service of being kind actually ends up being hurtful. Plenty of couples try to stick things out with a mate they aren’t very compatible with. That’s unnecessary for two people who are not married and don’t have children together. Too many couples who are “just dating” exhibit a misplaced sense of loyalty. They end up wasting valuable time in substandard relationships for fear of hurting somebody’s feelings.

I also wonder whether you are hard to please, though you don’t sound it. In the past, you weren’t pleased with guys who were unchivalrous. But you also weren’t pleased with your former boyfriend, who was your intellectual equal. It’s crazy to hold out for perfection. But you do need a starting point of some compatibility and attraction. You don’t have either with this man.

Certainly, some characteristics are more important than others. But I’m not sure that chivalry, which you haven’t clearly defined, should be at the top of anyone’s list. Shared interests, similar values and goals, intellectual compatibility, attraction and ability to communicate are far more important.

It’s certainly warranted that people be polite to others. But “chivalry” implies holding the door and rescuing a damsel in distress. While women like to be treated like women, it’s curious that this is your man’s primary strong point, and that you hold it above things that really matter.

It’s not unusual to be worried about being alone, but it’s unfortunate to remain with somebody whose company you find unpleasant, to refrain from activities you like and partake of those you don’t, solely to avoid being on your own. If this is the case with you, it is imperative to work on your own mindset, lest you keep attaching yourself to any man who comes your way.

Until you break up, you are trapped. The longer you stagnate within this unsatisfactory relationship, the lower are the chances that each of you will find a partner who’s a better fit.

Dr. Gail’s Bottom Line: Remaining in a ho-hum relationship, in the guise of being kind, ends up being hurtful to both of you.

Dr. Gail Saltz is a psychiatrist with New York Presbyterian Hospital and a regular contributor to TODAY. Her latest book is “Anatomy of a Secret Life: The Psychology of Living a Lie.” She is also the author of “Amazing You! Getting Smart About Your Private Parts,” which helps parents deal with preschoolers’ questions about sex and reproduction. Her first book, “Becoming Real: Overcoming the Stories We Tell Ourselves That Hold Us Back,” was published in 2004 by Riverhead Books. It is now available in a paperback version. For more information, you can visit her Web site, www.drgailsaltz.com.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Obama is too polite for his own good. However…

I was watching Barack Obama on Keith Olbermann’s show last night. You know, I think this would be a better blog if I just wrote down all my thoughts while watching television. My convention coverage was very popular.

Keith all but begged Obama to call McCain and/or Palin a liar. He wouldn’t do so. He said they “weren’t telling the truth,” but Obama couldn’t say The L-Word. Ah, the L-Word – now that’s a show I could take notes on.

Keith also tried to get Obama to criticize the Republicans on a whole host of other issues, but he kept on being polite.

Too polite.

Perhaps too polite to win.

What the hell is that all about?

So I put on my journalism hat and I spent the day asking powerful people in important positions what the hell this was all about. The answer from about seven different people? “Don’t worry, MoveOn.org will do the hard-hitting nasty stuff for Obama.”

Oh. That should work.

Hi. Here are the links and stats from the first workshop. Many thanks for your attention and I hope they

are useful and interesting for you to build out your vision… ! TM

Firstly, please introduce yourself as a Comment on this entry. Tell us about your expectations and targets for this course. Include your name and department, thanks.

Hi, in this workshop we read a statistical report on what people say about why they complain…In your reply to the post, say if you think these comments are fair and represent the Call Centre Agent’s job… 

 

looked at an online magazine to support Call Centre Agents… Have a browse through…http://www.callcentrehelper.com . In your reply say why this does or doesn’t represent your interests. Does it understand what you have to do every day? Is it helpful to you?

We also looked at others’ impressions of Customer Service Agents in cartoon form and from blogs. ( link here to cartoon site, other information in previous blog post at this blog )

  

and if you ever wondered about the dynamics of saying sorry for something I didn’t do!??

   

‘Sumimasen!’ In Japanese you often say sorry for things you have never done, or even knew about. For example, if your baggage is lost in transit with JAL, it is common practice to apologise to the Baggage Reclaim counter at JAL for THEIR inconvenience (!). This is something, many tourists find hard to ‘get their head around’. How about Call Centre Agents? What is the idea behind having to apologise for something that is out of your control? Read here and leave your comments.

 

 

 

 Lastly, we looked at how direct questioning can avoid these issues: that showing confidence breeds trust, basically! The workshop material is here… 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks for your attention !

Teacher Michael

 

Saying the important things first

 

 

 

 

You were asked at the end of the last lesson to find out what ‘procrastination’ means.

[feedback]

Here is a definition:

The word comes from the myth of Procrustes (Προκρούστης) “he who stretches”, also known as Damastes (Δαμαστής) “he who subdues” and Polypaemon Πολυπαίμων “he who harms. much” a figure from Greek mythology.

Theseus forcing Procrustes to his own bed

 

 

 

Procrustes was a son of Poseidon and a bandit from Attica. There, he had an iron bed into which he invited every passerby to lie down. Procrustes described it as having the unique property that its length exactly matched whoever lay down upon it. If the guest proved too tall, he would amputate the excess length; victims who were too short were stretched on the rack until they were long enough. Nobody ever fit in the bed because it was secretly adjustable: Procrustes would stretch or shrink it upon sizing his victims from afar. Procrustes continued his reign of terror until he was captured by Theseus, who “fitted” Procrustes to his own bed and cut off his head and feet (since Theseus was a stout fellow, the bed had been set on the short position).

People use this idea in science to describe the way that people bend or shape ideas for their own purposes. However, if you move into life you will never find logic growing anywhere, just in the human mind. Life is paradoxical. You will see opposites meeting in life without any difficulty. Life is illogical sometimes, this is how we live it.

     In language this idea of trying to fit an impossible or irrelevant idea to logical speech is known as ‘procrastination’ or ‘beating around the bush’. What irritates us about people who procrastinate is that they are trying to achieve the impossible or the unimportant. They are trying to say something that can’t or needn’t be said, or could be said in very simple ways but for some reason they want to waste our time and not get to the point! Procrustes, of course, annoyed everyone, until he annoyed the wrong guy, Theseus…who stopped his procrastination for good!!!

 

 

 

So here is the question….!!! Is procrastination ever good? To answer this you have to -- ask about which situation we are procrastinating in. Sure, sometimes procrastination is funny:

‘I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind’

‘I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe- I believe what I believe is right’.

and sometimes a source of creative reflection and entertainment…

 

Amy Winehouse’s song ‘Procrastination’ (link)

 

lyrics:

I don’t catch your drift and I don’t catch your plan
Need to get my thoughts down but it’s getting late
Need to get up now, get my feet on the ground
But the show is so unprepared now
My place so messed up, I tried on some shoes
Should think clear and focus, but I’ve things to do
Glancing at my CD rack, eyes linger on frank
And I must put that check in the bank

Try to put me in a room
Distractionless
(Everything is everything)
Spare me from worse
In the studio, I will finally burn
All the time is all you got)
Tempted to work

Always got something to do, someone to be seeing
Somewhere to be dancing I’m a wake human being
It’s an opportunity, shout ’till you go blue
Unless I wanna do it
Your words go through
Need to buy some cigarettes, can’t put it off any longer
Worked appeal depression
I feel it growing stronger
Maybe when I’m all grown up, I will get it through
But right now I got stuff to do

Try to put me in a room
Distractionless
(Everything is everything)
Spare me from worse
In the studio, I would finally burn
(All the time is all you got)
Tempted to work

Put me in a room
Distraction less
(Everything is everything)
Spare me from worse
In the studio, I would finally burn
(All the time is all you got)
Tempted to work

Gotta get this song down before I leave tonight
But my hair, just does it’s own thing
And I gotta look alright
And I gotta write a chorus, but words allude me now
I have to get this down before I leave somehow
And anyway I be thinkin’ to meet you at the station
Guilty ’cause I should be home
Damn ProcrastinationSo when they ask me later, I won’t tell them how it’s going
But now my head is empty, and the work load keeps on growing

Try to put me in a room
Distraction less
(Everything is everything)
Spare me from worse
In the studio, I would finally burn
(All the time is all you got)
Tempted to work

Put me in a room
Distraction less
Spare me from worse
In the studio, I would finally burn
Tempted to work

Distraction less
Spare me from worse
I would finally burn
Tempted to work… [The last line really says it. Tempted to work.]

[survey: is procrastination ever useful?] 

continued on next blog entry - Workshop 2 Saying the most important things first (2)

                                                         please continue…

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Isn’t it the worst thing in the world when someone you might like, if you knew them, or were related to them (but aren’t), when you are busy or doing something very important, or expensive (!) starts rambling on? In my hometown there is a guy in the supermarket who does this. I admire him greatly and think he must have boundless reserves of energy because he has endless debates with every single customer as he is scanning and packing their shopping. I admire him, but secretly I think he looks bored and desperate. In the end I think I would find it hugely irritating, I would feel that I am there to entertain him and not the other way around. The same thing happens with teachers by the way. They are there to impart something useful to you not take your attention for their own enjoyment!!!

 

How does procrastination express itself in a Call Centre, during calls? Should call centre operators procrastinate? Should customers be let to procrastinate?

What are the results of your decisions? 

What do we agree on?

 There is a way in language to help you with this. The strongest sentences are sentences which mention the subject of the conversation first. These sentences then mangle the rest of the sentence around making it make sense. So, for example… if you are receiving an order for a package to go to Tibet and you don’t know the postcode, you say…

 

 

 

“POSTCODES in Tibet are written in the same format I believe..(note: use of passive)”

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ve brought notice of the most important thing to the attention of the listener. They know exactly what your question is about. Compare this with the former….

 

 

 

“You know the biggest problem that I have is that I don’t really understand how I should be writing the postcode. And, of course, it’s going to Tibet!’’

 

 

 

 

Here, the listener may have some idea that you need to know the Tibetan postcode (note here I didn’t write the postcode from Tibet! I changed Tibet to an adjective to be more direct…!). However, his brain is so full of other words that you said that if he does get around to answering your question properly it might just ‘crash’ and give you a confused answer which would lead to more problems…

 

Let’s listen to a call example

[

Short-Term Memory (STM)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The brain has a limited amount of memory available to it (at present) - from research it is between 5 and 9 things. Historically this has been known as 7. And this number is called ‘Miller’s Magic Number’.

There is a nice explanation of Short term memory here (link):

 

 

 

 

 

STM is characterized by:

	A limited capacity of up to seven pieces of independent information.
	The brief duration of these items last from 3 to 20 seconds.
	Decay appears to be the primary mechanism of memory loss.

After entering sensory memory, a limited amount of information is transferred into short-term memory. Within STM, there are three basic operations:

	Iconic memory- The ability to hold visual images.
	Acoustic memory- The ability to hold sounds. Acoustic memory can be held longer than iconic memory.
	Working memory- An active process to keep it until it is put to use (think of a phone number you'll repeat to yourself until you can dial it on the phone). Note that the goal is not really to move the information from STM to LTM, but merely put the information to immediate use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mechanism of short-term memory loss revealed

The process of transferring information from STM to LTM involves the encoding or consolidation of information. This is not a function of time, that is, the longer a memory stayed in STM, the more likely it was to be placed into LTM; but on organizing complex information in STM before it can be encoded into LTM. In this process of organization, the meaningfulness or emotional content of an item may play a greater role in its retention into LTM. As instructional designers, we must find ways to make learning relevant and meaningful enough for the learner to make the important transfer of information to long-term memory.

Miller's Magic Number

 

 

 

 

 

 

George Miller's classic 1956 study found that the amount of information which can be remembered on one exposure is between five and nine items, depending on the information.

Applying a range of +2 or -2, the number 7 became known as Miller's Magic Number, the number of items which can be held in Short-Term Memory at any one time.

Miller himself stated that his magic number was for items with one aspect. His work is based on subjects listening to a number of auditory tones that varied only in pitch. Each tone was presented separately, and the subject was asked to identify each tone relative to the others she had already heard, by assigning it a number. After about five or six tones, subjects began to get confused, and their capacity for making further tone judgments broke down.

He found this to be true of a number of other tasks. But if more aspects are included, then we can remember more, depending upon our familiarity and the complexity of the subject (in Miller's research, there was only one aspect -- the tone). For example, we can remember way more human faces as there are a number of aspects, such as hair color, hair style, shape of face, facial hair, etc.

We remember phone numbers by their aspects of 2 or more groupings. We don't really remember "seven" numbers. We remember the first group of three and then the other grouping of four numbers. If it is long distance, then we add an area code. So we actually remember 10 numbers by breaking it into groups of three. Social Security numbers work on the same principle -- xxx-xx-xxxx (3 groups of numbers). Also, I'm not sure why we have seven numbers in the phone system. The author states it is not based upon Miller's work, but never states why.

 

 

 

 

 

[taking the interesting bit]

Short-Term Memory (STM)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STM is characterized by:

	A limited capacity of up to seven pieces of independent information.
	The brief duration of these items last from 3 to 20 seconds.
	Decay appears to be the primary mechanism of memory loss.

 

So clearly, if you or the caller are spreading the conversation even slightly off tack the chances of getting confused are very high…!!!

After entering sensory memory, a limited amount of information is transferred into short-term memory. Within STM, there are three basic operations:

 

 

 

 

	Iconic memory- The ability to hold visual images.
	Acoustic memory- The ability to hold sounds. Acoustic memory can be held longer than iconic memory.
	Working memory- An active process to keep it until it is put to use (think of a phone number you’ll repeat to yourself until you can dial it on the phone). Note that the goal is not really to move the information from STM to LTM, but merely put the information to immediate use.

 

 

 

 

 

The Customer calls up and starts talking about his personal life.

You start talking about your last trip to Australia

The Customer starts telling about the problems they have had with the package

You feel like you would like to make a better friendship with the caller as they sound sad and forget what it is that they were sending.

The Customer starts complaining about the cost of the package and the service in the world generally ‘these days’ and you need to ask them a clarifying question about the address?

 

 

 

 

 

Think about the first workshop. There are clearly things here which can help you get the conversation back on track. The important thing in this session to understand is that having the principle of not wanting to procrastinate before the call begins will ultimately influence the whole call and neither the caller or the Agent will begin.

 

Let’s listen to the call again

How would you have changed this conversation? Re-enact this conversation

 

 

 

What are the 3 most important words in the last segment??????? 

 

VISUAL ACOUSTIC USE

 

Do you agree? How does this affect our speech during incoming calls at FedEx then? You tell me…

PRACTICE THE FOLLOWING:

 

 

 

 

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But at work?