He called to place an order. Unfortunately, the catalog at which he was looking was over four years old, so I suggested that he look at our web site. His response? "I'd just like to take care of this today, if it's all the same to you." So he asked me to begin going over what is available in the current catalog (we have a significant number of items). I spent a few minutes doing this and he finally asked me for the web address. Elated, I gave it to him.
My delight was to be short-lived. He advised me that he wanted me to stay on the line with him while he perused our selection. After a few minutes of hearing nothing but annoying humming, I asked, "Would you like some time to look over the list and then call us back?"
His response? "Like I said, I'd like to take care of this today." I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him.
We finally got through everything, after he had made a couple of revisions to his order. I checked the final time for the call. It was 11:03. Our maximum talk time is supposed to be 3:00. Thankfully, this customer wasn't upsell applicable, so I didn't have to try to sell him anything. But still, that one call seriously hurt my average talk time for the day. It just goes to show that, when customers aren't prepared, it does more than waste their time.
April 16, 2004