Tuesday, November 05, 2024

NEW INC. MAGAZINE COLUMN BY HOWARD TULLMAN

 

Appearance equals attitude. What I learned from running a call center years ago and how that applies to today’s workplace. 

EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @HOWARDTULLMAN1

NOV 5, 2024

Many years ago when they were still viable businesses because consumers still answered their landline phones, I ran an outbound call center for the major American automobile manufacturers. The center made millions of calls each year to collect and measure customer satisfaction with sales and service experiences at car dealerships. I realize that there’s an oxymoronic aspect to that very idea, but there were still plenty of people at the time who were interested in paying us to try to figure out why buying a car or having it serviced at a dealership was such a painful and unpleasant process.

After years of analyzing massive amounts of research and consumer feedback, I’m not sure that the manufacturers learned anything of real value or changed their approach in any meaningful way. Certainly, the dealers themselves were rarely interested in our suggestions and reports on how they could do a better job. This is why we now have firms like Carvana, which are intent upon disintermediating the dealership experience in its entirety.

But we still discovered a great deal about how to successfully run a call center that employed hundreds of people of all ages and from every different kind of background, education level, race, color and creed. This is not an easy business because attrition and employee burnout rates are massive which, in turn, makes it very hard to justify extensive investments in careful training. In addition, it’s a real-time service, which makes it difficult to manage and correct errors made by customer service agents. And finally, it’s almost impossible to assess team attitudes and emotional states because everyone is “a business of one,” locked into a cubicle, insulated with headphones, and basically all on their own.

I spent a fair amount of time every day walking the aisles and listening to one-sided bits and pieces of ongoing conversations my employees were having with pleased, pissed off, and – to a frightening large extent – utterly disinterested customers. As you might imagine, this was a fairly primitive way to monitor the discussions and, in the decades since then, new technologies and tools have emerged to make the task much easier and valuable to all concerned as well. But, to be honest, management by walking around will never work in the WFH world of today.

There are a couple of important lessons that we did learn that I think have immense value in the new post-pandemic work world, where so much happens in an environment that seems equally remote and closed off. Whether it’s a matter of phone contact, etiquette and attitude, or Zoom/Teams behaviors and protocols, so many of the same attributes and work conditions we dealt with are extremely relevant now given the persistence of WFH along with millions of gig employees working anywhere and everywhere.

Posture Matters

One of the most obvious and correctable actions we dealt with in the call centers was posture. That might seem strange in a room full of seated folks. But the fact is that if someone was slouching, hanging off their chair, staring around the room, or otherwise checked out, we knew for sure that they weren’t connecting effectively with the person on the other end of the line. You see this same issue in teleconferences all the time– where team members aren’t leaning in and focused, but instead are half asleep, snacking, texting, or simply not paying attention. It matters and it’s worth calling out if you’re running the session. Sit up straight, lean in, and smile.

Appearance Matters

I realize that the pandemic demonstrated to the world that you could party, pray or participate in virtually any remote activity in your pajamas. And as certain notable columnists and commentators learned – much to their embarrassment and chagrin – you could do a host of other questionable things as well. But it’s very clear that, if you care about your business and you want to send the right message, what you wear shows everyone just how much you care. This is just as true for an underdressed slob who’s driving an Uber, someone handling your groceries that you wouldn’t want near anything perishable, or any delivery moron who’s vaping on your front porch while waiting for you to answer the door. Paying attention to your appearance and how you are seen by others is part of being a professional.  Unfortunately, that’s a message that’s been lost on millions of inbound employees.

Time and Details Matter

The pros know a simple fact – the way you conduct any part of your life and business automatically bleeds into and informs the entire rest of your activities. If you’re an “on time” person who respects other people’s time, those people will respond in kind and appreciate your concern and courtesy. If you’re a slug who shows up late or whenever it suits your schedule, you’ll soon be looking for work elsewhere. If you’re a person who sweats the small stuff, pays attention to the details, prepares for calls and meetings, people quickly get that message as well. It’s important, it’s contagious, and it’s what all great leaders do. You want to be the one who’s everyone’s first choice for tasks, responsibilities, assistance and promotions – not the last resort.

Bottom line: all of these behaviors and attributes point in the same direction to a particular conclusion: that you are present, that you care about the work you do, and that you take pride in how and why you do that work. It’s not going to be easy to remotely build and maintain company cultures, but it starts in every case by paying attention to the small personal details that matter most in the long run.