I’ve noticed lately that customer service agents are overly friendly. Tonight I had to make several calls in preparation of my upcoming trip. In nearly all cases, the customer service agents attempted to engage me in idle chit-chat. When did that become a customer service “standard operating procedure”? Tonight isn’t the first time I’ve noticed, but I hadn’t put two-and-two together until I had back-to-back customer service calls.
The gentleman at Verizon wanted to chat about the weather, what I did for a living, and how I must like what I do since I’ve been doing it for so long.
The gal at Ally Bank wanted to advise me to be careful and have fun on my travels.
I have to think it’s a distraction technique. Maybe we won’t notice how long things are taking if they chit-chat with us. I don’t know about others, but I hate idle chit-chat…ALWAYS. I also hate talking on the phone. The combination is nauseating.
I’m a “get it done” kind of person and anything that does not get me closer to my task at hand is a waste to me. I don’t mean to be rude, but I suspect I come across that way at times.. Bitchy…right?
Have you noticed changes with customer service agents? If you are a customer service agent, has there been recent trends to add idle chit-chat?