Outsourced Call Centers – Training to Satisfy USA Customers
by Kate Nasser | 5 Comments »
If you are working in a call center (also known as customer care and customer service centre) inside or outside of the USA, every call you get from the USA could have one of nine lives. Why? Because we Americans (USA) may share a common language and citizenship yet as customers the similarities end there.
USA Customers
Ring ring. Who’s there? An American customer? No. There is no such thing as an American customer. There is a New York customer, a Northeast customer, a Southeast customer, a Midwest customer, a Texan customer, a West Coast customer, a Pacific Northwest customer, an Alaskan customer, and of course a Hawaiian customer.
Each call brings a different set of expectations about what is great treatment.
A LinkedIn contact center colleague from Australia recently asked – we all speak English so what’s the issue? The issue is that satisfying a customer means understanding how they want to be treated interpersonally. In sales and customer service, it pays to know how to interact and communicate to your diverse customers – which is different than just speaking the same language. In other words, courtesy is defined differently in diverse cultures. In America, courtesy is defined very differently in various regions of the country.
20 years ago when I started my consulting and training practice, I didn’t even know this. Yet the years on the road have given me an invaluable education on these substantive differences in American customers.
If you have traveled the USA, you may well know this too. Yet many Contact Call Centres around the world are staffed by those who have not yet had that experience. The phone rings and Call Centre reps are left to guess which of the nine lives they are talking to at that moment and how to communicate with this American stranger.
Where are these call centers? Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, UK, Middle East, Africa, Canada, South America and Australia.
Even customer service centers in the USA have found it difficult to deal with customers from another part of the USA. How have they met that challenge? They have attended workshops on regional USA differences that impact customer service. Does the USA really vary that much? Absolutely.
Now this workshop is available “live” on DVD for every call centre to use for training. Customer Service USA – What They Expect Coast to Coast and Everywhere In Between turns American strangers into customers you know how to serve well. You will know exactly how to satisfy each and every American customer across the nation. Thankfully, the information is easy to absorb and quickly apply.
Drew Schmoll, Customer Service Agent“I enjoyed Customer Service USA DVD we saw today. The second call I took when I got back on the phones was from a gentleman from New York. I picked up my pace and got right to the points of how navigate our website and he was off my phone in no time and I could tell by his tone he was satisfied with the results. Very useful information! Thanks sincerely.”
Preview the DVD before you purchase it and then get ready to teach and entertain your reps with the info they need to satisfy customers and consumers across the USA. This is a unique tool that enables your reps to meet the expectations of diverse American customers and wins you the loyalty of this large customer base.
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach, has packaged 20 years of American customer service experience into this DVD with her signature style of energy, passion, humor, and practicality. It is the perfect way to train contact call center, customer care, consumer affairs and technical support reps taking calls from diverse USA customers!
Hi Kate,
I think there is an “American customer” as there is “A French customer”. If you look from a global perspective you can separate those two cultures by main traits : see slide 8 of the following presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/asterix2008/intercultural-leadesrship-anne-egros .
If you are not dealing with mass media communication then at the individual level, I agree with you there is a much bigger difference in perspectives between someone in New England and another in Florida than between a French and an American. I spent about three years in New York, it was my first expatriation in the USA and I just loved it: the people’s speed, the stimulating work environment, the great entertainments, no car everything walking or public transportation . Then we have been relocated later to Atlanta and I must admit it was a true culture shock — drive-ins everywhere, fatty food, no real city to walk, big houses, huge Wallmarts or Costco. Then I relocated in Buckhead and I really enjoyed the last 2 years …
Anne
Hi Anne,
The slides you share here are a good source of info. I will once again be going to Canada to teach and appreciate the slides comparing French/American. Oddly enough I am getting many inquiries about understanding American regional differences from Americans who haven’t traveled and from those outside the US.
Thanks for your insights on this topic. I always welcome your contributions.
Best,
Kate
Hi Kate,
I am happy to contribute to your presentations. Why not joining our forces to tell the world about cultural intelligence and excellence ?
Anne
You wrote a nice article! This information means a lot to me. Though being a call center agent is not an easy job but still it brought happiness whenever some customers were satisfied on your answers.