Shop Talk
For sales reps...........
I get paid hourly + commission. So since I get paid commission and that makes up a big part of my salary I feel that we should not "marry" our customers. Usually I try to resolve the situation within a few minutes (15 min. tops). If this doesnt work, or the customer isnt hearing it; I refer them to customer care. Some people may find this to be the wrong thing to do... well I sure as hell dont. I have 10-15 people in the store waiting to be helped at all times and even just one customer with a bill problem thats complex can hold all of them up for 30 minutes and potential sales could be walking out of the door. Furthermore I am in "sales". Sure I help customers with issues... however like I said before I get paid commission and I refu...
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you said you can give credits as long as its not huge, understandable, now i dont know if you are one of the stores who does this or not but if you promise the upgrade or act fee to be waived please do so in the store instead of having them call care or nss to take care of it. and if you already do credit it then thanks i really dont have any other complaints. as long as you try to help the customer then im good lol
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I'm a CSR.I'm the guy that has to deal with the customers that have been promised an ar and a leg by the sales reps.Here's the deal...If you promise something to a customer...give it to them.DO NOT send them to me.You (or your manager) have the same ability to waive activation fees and upgrade fees.I was nice enough to deduct these fees for sales reps when they called in...until I got an audit and had to justify the waived fees.My team lead got me out of hot water on that one,but let me know that sales reps will do that save their commissions and not have the waived fee show up on THEIR audit.Not cool guys.Send customers to us for billing problems..fine,but don't put MY butt in a sling.I'll do anything in my power to help you guys,but we hav...
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I agree 100%... For me in sales, I can get a "sale" for upselling the rate plan and such which is nice. So I help with billing issues somewhat. But for rediculous issues that have no sale potential- Why bother? I don't get paid to troubleshoot phones nor do I get paid to explain the features of phone and how to use them.
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and just a little note - the customer is going to be more satisfied with the experience/service that the trained individual can provide.
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Gotta disagree with you on one thing: as sales people, part of our job is to educate the customer on the products and services they buy. I'm not talking about a full front-to-back class on every page of the user's manual, but the basics of operation of the phone, and especially how to use the features they were sold. We view that as part of the sale here, and it helps our repeat and referral business. It really helps your customers develop trust in your product knowledge and your willingness to help them in the future.
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He's talking about billing problems.
"My bill is to high, you guys are screwing me"
"How did my balance get so high"
"How much is my past due"
"How much can I pay to get my phone cut on"
etc. etc.
"My bill is to high, you guys are screwing me"
"How did my balance get so high"
"How much is my past due"
"How much can I pay to get my phone cut on"
etc. etc.
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Part of what he was talking about was billing, another part was explaining the features of the phone. That was what I was responding to, not the billing portion.
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I work in a call center. I've never seen 95% of the phones that we sell. But I'm a techie kind of guy ( so it helps. ) We dont have any tutorials or anything like that, Other departments do- such as Warranty. We're just expected to sell the phones, features and get them on a 2 year contract.
From what I understand, the stores sell phones to profit off phones- correct? My main motive is to get the customer on a 2 year contract. That's where AT&T makes it's money.
From what I understand, the stores sell phones to profit off phones- correct? My main motive is to get the customer on a 2 year contract. That's where AT&T makes it's money.
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I never said I wouldnt help a customer when im selling them a phone & how it works. Im talking about when they come in to sit down and have DINNER about why they're bill is messed up &/or how they've been a loyal customer and want to go over every avenue of what they can do etc.... trust me it gets VERY TEDIOUS and annoying especially when the same people are behind them waiting in line growing impatient.
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THank you SOOOOO Much for pointing that out "WhoDey". Im not saying its not my job to help customers with EVERYTHING sales... and how the phone works, and the plans "upfront" etc. etc. However, when they come back w/ all these detailed and tedious questions that take 30 minutes im losing sales. Furthermore they ask for billing credits and "I've been a good customer for 3 years, I want a discount". Thats not my job.
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i agree and disagree. i think having an overall knowledge of everything is helpful in making a sale. what i do is this, i have the ability to price the equipment to what i want to sell it for. i will take care of customers to the best of my ability, i will call customer service, i will call the rebate center and make sure you get your rebate, i will come to your house and set up an aircard for you if you want, i will put music on your juke, i will put movies on your pearl....and you will pay for my services. my service justifies the cost you pay for your phone. you might pay more than online (not really might, you WILL) but you get me with it.
you get what you pay for!
you get what you pay for!
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I am a corporate retailer.. most of what you said does not apply to my job.
1. I dont get paid for the cash amount of a phone nor' can I set the price of the phone.
2. I call care also, but only for a few minutes because our store is packed and if everyone sat w/ a customer and took care of all the problems the line would never move.
3. I cant charge people for my services.
1. I dont get paid for the cash amount of a phone nor' can I set the price of the phone.
2. I call care also, but only for a few minutes because our store is packed and if everyone sat w/ a customer and took care of all the problems the line would never move.
3. I cant charge people for my services.
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I agree with you 100%. I'll help my regular customers with minor billing issues, and even sit on the phone with customer service for a really good customer of mine. However, I don't do this all of the time. It's the customer's responsibility to call customer service if they have billing issues or other problems.
What drives me crazy is when customer service pawns a customer off on the store. Telling them to go to the store to get something done, when we can't do it. This happens frequently and I really get sick of it. Especiallly when I then call NSS and they're like "Yeah, that care rep was mistaken, you can't do that..."
At this point, if I can't solve the problem through NSS, I redirect the customer back to customer care.
What drives me crazy is when customer service pawns a customer off on the store. Telling them to go to the store to get something done, when we can't do it. This happens frequently and I really get sick of it. Especiallly when I then call NSS and they're like "Yeah, that care rep was mistaken, you can't do that..."
At this point, if I can't solve the problem through NSS, I redirect the customer back to customer care.
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i agree. if you are working sales then your job is to sell the customer something, not help them with every little problem and complaint that they have. that is care's job. i will help with things like "what plan am i on", or "how many minutes have i used so far". simple things that only take a minute or two. but i wont sift through months of past bills because you think you were charged too much 3 months ago and waited til now to do something about it. call care. your phone doesnt work? does it turn on? yup, alright go talk to a tech. i am here to sell things, not hold your hand thru every little problem that may arise in the next 2 yrs of your contract. we have people for that and thats what they get paid to do.
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I also work in a tech. location & my total work day actually ends up being 75% service (so I have to deal w/ tech issues a lot). The other 10% is billing etc. issues... & finally the last 15% or so is actually what I should do and that is SALES.
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In general, I would agree with you. I will take some time to help a customer understand their bill, because this gives me the opportunity for feature sales. But if they are disputing the bill I refer them to cust svc as I have no ability to make changes to their bill. However, I have made exception. I once acted as an advocate on behalf of a customer and helped get her bill adjusted by over $500. I did get a feature sale out of the deal, got a few customer references, and made a solid customer for life. Also, if someone at my store did something to cause a customer to have billing issues, then of course we work with the customer and cust svc to resolve the issue. But generally speaking, yeah customers with billing issues or technical ...
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