Call Center / Customer Service Rep Question?
Asked by yourpastlifelover
Let's say that somebody contacts you with a question or concern and you are unsure how to answer it properly. What is the usual course of action? Please don not answer me with, "Ask your manager!" I always do ask my manager when I am unsure of company policy, but I have never done customer service work before and just want to know beforehand what GENERALLY happens with this.

Best Answer:
I worked customer service for a utility company as my first real job. Customers still asked me stuff I couldn't answer even when I'd been at it for years. "Good question, Mr. Ramirez. Do you want my best guess based on how the company responds to situations similar to this but not quite identical, or would you rather hold while I find my manager and ask? Or I could have him contact you."

I work in a bank; we are a small bank and don't have call centers. I've only been working here for about three months and I get questions everyday that I don't know the answer to. My situation might be different but when asked a question I don't know the answer to I'll either say: "That is an excellent question, Mr. Askalottaquestions. Would it be alright if I transfered you to Ms. Knowitall? She has over ten years experience in the banking industry and has helps many other customers with situations similiar to yours. Thank you, Mr. Askalottaquestions, is it okay if I place you on hold for just a few moments so that I can introduce your situation to her? Thank you very much." or "That is a good question Mr. Curiositykilledthecat, would you mind if I placed you on hold for just a moment? I would like to ask my supervisor what the proper course of action is. Thank you Mr. Curiositykilledthecat, I'll just be a moment." In option one I would contact my direct supervisor and ask if she could handle it. That might not work in your situation as your supervisor probably doesn't want to do your work for you. In the second option, after I placed him on hold, I would ask a coworker or two before bringing it to my supervisor. I suppose how much you like your coworkers would be a factor in that, though. In workshops I've been in on that very matter they stress building up and never tearing down the customer's confidence. Explain to Mr. Complainsabouthisbill that you will never give him an answer you are unsure about and will always double check your responses. If there is no one around for you to ask, get Mr. Complainsabouthisbill's phone number and offer to call him back with more information/an answer to his question. That's just we do here, not sure if it'll help you wherever you work. Good luck and don't be too worried about it, I'm more than sure that your trainers will explain what to do in that exact situation.
Answered by Frosty