The Constellation A newsletter for Answering Service Employees, donated to the industry by TeamSNUG

Aquila

“The Eagle”

Cancer constellation is

located in the northern sky.

Its name means “the crab” in

Latin. Cancer is the faintest

of the 12 zodiac

constellations and is the 31st

largest constellation in the

sky. It was catalogued by the

Greek astronomer Ptolemy in

the 2nd century.

In the myth, Hera sends the

crab to distract Hercules

while the hero is fighting the

Lernaean Hydra, the serpent

-like beast with many heads

and poisonous breath. When

the crab tries to kill Hercules,

the story goes, Hercules kicks

it all the way to the stars.

In another version, the crab

gets crushed instead and

Hera, a sworn enemy of

Hercules, places it in the sky

for its efforts. However, she

places the crab in a region of

the sky that has no bright

stars, because despite its

efforts, the crab was not

successful in accomplishing

the task.

— From Constellation-guide.com

1st Quarter 2014

A Shining Star to Guide the Way...

Today’s Luminary is

Lessa Walters - Call Center Manager at

ProComm Seneca location By Submitted by Dawn Newborn-Cook

Memories By George Chandler Owner and CEO of ProComm

L essa came to work at ProComm about ten years ago. It was at a time in her life when she

really needed a job, and I really needed someone to answer the phones. When she began I

didn’t realize that she would come to mean so much to our company. I suspect she was

wondering “What have I gotten myself into?” We only had about six employees at the time. I’m

surprised that she stayed, the person training her told her I required all agents to memorize all

account numbers! This was an unrealistic and fictional requirement, but Lessa was undaunted, and

memorized those numbers! That trainer is no longer with us – and Lessa has helped to foster the

growth of ProComm in so many ways.

When she came on board I was still answering the phones on the third shift. I would go home at 7

AM, sleep a few hours, and get dressed and make sales calls the rest of the day. I would always

make it back to the office to help during check-out. Lessa and I began to work together and I

began to realize that I had hired someone who had a special talent - a gift. She intuitively knew

what our clients and employees needed.

Early on when someone called out it was Lessa who was always there to

cover. When I was on the road trying to sell new accounts, it was Lessa who is back

at the office taking care of our existing customers. At various times in the history of

the company, she has hired, fired, received payments, clean the toilets, and even

babysat my children when my wife and I needed to go to a convention or a sales

call.

Together we have seen many changes in technology. Lessa

came to work for the company just shortly after I got my first

paperless system. While it was nice at the time, it was nowhere

near the high level of automation that we have today. She has

clipped many hand typed messages and pasted them together,

only to send them as a fax to a waiting customer. I have even

seen her drive across town in wintry weather to deliver an urgent

message to a funeral home client.

The thing that makes entrepreneurs successful is the people that

they hire. I have been fortunate to have hired many good people

in my career. Only rarely do you find someone who is willing to

take your dream and make it their own. Lessa has taken the

vision I have for ProComm, and fully embraced each ideal. She

works 50 hours every week and loves her job, co-workers and

clients. She deserves to be in the spot light for her dedication

and love for others. She is a true Luminary.

What is Call Control? (And how do I get it?)

I t’s easy to answer a call, the answer phrase is there before us, we know to speak it

slowly and distinctly, fill in the message prompts and voila - we are on to another call.

But we all know it isn’t that easy. Sometimes callers don’t want to tell us what we need

to know to take a proper message, and other times they want to tell us a whole lot more

than we need to know. Either way, we are shortchanging our clients if we can’t take control

of the call.

If we have someone who is unwilling to share the information we need, we aren’t going to

be able to give our customer the information he or she needs. If we have someone who

rambles on and on, we take a chance of running up the customer’s bill or imposing on our

coworkers because we can’t take our share of calls.

Once a caller lures us away from the message prompts we are in uncharted waters. Here

are some ways to get back on course.

Get the Whole Name

When you ask for a name, have you ever had someone say, “Just tell him it’s Jim”?

Try saying, “Is this Jim Smith or Jim Connor?” The caller will almost always correct you and supply their

last name.

Get the Number

“And, sir, may I have your number please?” When the caller answers “he’ll know” , reply: “If he isn’t at

his desk he may not have it, let me take it just to be sure.”

When someone wants to tell you too little

“I’m sorry you’re having this problem, let me get a little more information so I can contact the right person

for you.”

When someone wants to tell you too much

“Please let me stop you, Mrs. Jones. The Rental agent will need all of this information and we don’t want

there to be any confusion about who heard which details. I will give him a brief message and he will call

back to get the details”.

or

“I know the repair man will want to hear that directly from you, so he can ask further questions, so I’ll save

you the effort of telling me.”

End the call.

Some callers do just fine answering your scripted questions until it comes time to end the conversation,

then they flounder around. It is always best to allow the customer to hang up first, so try these tips for

nudging them in the right direction. Confirm the information they have given you. If that doesn’t do the

trick say, “I think I have all of the information I need now. Let me send this right out to the repair person.”

If all else fails you can warmly, but firmly, say, “The sooner I page this out, the sooner we’ll get you help.

I’m going to do that right now, so you may want to keep your line free. I hope you feel better soon.” And

then you hang up.

These tips don’t cover every scenario, but they are the ones we most often hear. Good Luck!

Wealthy... Healthy... ...and Wise

D id you know that when you

return an item that you

purchased, the information

about the return may go into a

database about YOU? USA Today

reports that many retailers keep

such a database on all their

customers. And many consumers

feel this is an invasion of their

privacy. If you would like

information on your own return

activity, you may request a copy of

your Return Activity Report from

TheRetailEquation.com

W inter has the most hours

of darkness of any

season, and cloudy

weather can add to those hours.

This is the perfect time to gather up

all your flashlights, make sure the

bulbs are bright and the batteries are

fresh, and replace any that are

corroded. Then place them where

everyone will know where to find

them, be sure there is one by every

bed, and on every bathroom door.

Knowing right where to reach for

light is an important thing when the

power goes out!

O ne our of brisk activity a

day! Cancer researchers

say that helps lower risk

for this deadly disease. It also

helps prevent heart disease,

diabetes, bone loss… the list

goes on. One hour of exercise a

day is good for so many horrible

diseases that it almost becomes a

requirement for staying healthy

and alive. One hour a day – for

better health. Why not begin

giving yourself a gift of health

today?

Happy New Year from all of us at the Constellation!

Word List Jack Frost

January

Blizzard

Boots

Chill

December

Ear Muffs

February

Fireplace

Hibernate

Hot chocolate

Ice Skating

Icicle

Mittens

Old Man Winter

Penguin

Polar Bear

Scarf

Skiing

Sledding

Sleigh ride

Snowboard

Snowflakes

Snowman

Toboggan

Winter Wonderland Word Find B G F J A C K F R O S T D J I O E G P E N G U I N S N O M A

M I J K L P O I U Y T R E W Q H D N O G F W I Z T O O B F U

N J C D E G H J K L M N B H F J T S L F G H J K E R T H E J

B S S E F F G H S H J H G H K J F H A K J H G R E N T G B Y

V J J G S Z M X N F C B N C M D X B R Z N H S G H O N F R H

C F R T L K A S D F F F D S A E S F B V B N M Z B Y D D U K

X K H H K G A S D F G U F G G C H G E C B X N O G P J V A L

A I K F G G R T F K H K M K J E Y B A T E N G N Q I H R M

S U U C J F R R I I Y U O R Y M J T R Y T G J K I O D G Y N

D J J D H G F F J N D H J K A B K G T H A P H Q C W T R R U

F H F F J F S L E I G H R I D E U U I N N L J A I I G T F G

G F H H H C J A U I O Y U I O R Y D R H R I N Z C E S J G H

H B J F A H J R Q W E T E T F K H F G J E K K X L I R G H G

J Y H R G N H S B N V L F G H I T G H H B J I S E E W H J H

S J F Q F B Y E A S D F L G H J G H J H I U U W G U G Y K K

K E G P D F T E D F H H H I J M N J K G H N J E J Y H G N K

I T N W J T G E D V N B S H H N M K M R T J M D F T S H A Y

N A A O K K B R T D V E N J L C J I I T T H N C J T N J M F

G L K E K K A F G R K O P Y T T K U T Y R G H V D Y O D W H

T O S I S J E U H A O I Y O P U K Y T U E B Y F K U W G O G

O C F R L U R H L Z H H N J J K L T E G R F T R S T B B N M

B O R U A Y G F O Z T G S L E D D I N G F D G T L H O U S K

O H C T J H W G O I K J H R E K L Q S H V B B G A G A J G O

G C S Y A O K D G L G F D E D R H I E L S D C M B E R E C I

N T H N N G T Y J B G H O E F G H R E T N I W N A M D L O G

Y O D S U E R T Y U I O P H J K T H C V D S G J O L I U J K

U H L O A D F V G N I I K S K G H J K I U R T H G F G N I W

J F G H R L K J H G F F D S S S W E T Y U O P P G H J B F D

M H J N Y B F G H U L F I R E P L A C E H N S T O O B H G H

G D G H J O R U W G J M D G H K Y G R D G H J T G E W F G H

S poken words fade in time. The special words and

the hurtful words stay in our hearts and heads for a

long time, but eventually they fade. Written

words used to stay as long as the paper they were written

on could last. Hence bundles of love letters from service

men writing home to their loved ones were tied in

bundles and cherished. Legal agreements were made in

writing so they could be referred to in the future and it

would be clear exactly what the intent was for all

signers.

Today, every word we text, or e-mail or save in our

computers will be available to others for years and years

to come. These electronic words, and their meaning, will be able to be accessed by others

seemingly forever. As we casually instant message our co-workers, e-mail our bosses and text

our friends, those messages become attainable by all manner of people for whom they were

NOT intended.

We have come to an age where our grandmother’s admonishment, “If you can’t say something

nice, don’t say anything at all” carries more wisdom than we (or even she) knew! This is

especially true while instant messaging one another at work. In the call center industry we have

periods of furiously taking one call after another, followed by periods of waiting for a call.

That is when we may take a moment to IM a friend. Boredom leads to mischief (another

grandmother saying) and we may write something unkind about another coworker, or our

supervisor, or boss, or customer while killing time. These words, tossed off while we are just

waiting, can be accessed by others for a long, long time.

Try to always be cognizant of the fact that what you write could bring pain, or shame to you or

to others. Be sure that you will be viewed as a kind, compassionate, and intelligent person

when someone else reads your words. Beware that the message you write in the interest of

brevity could come across as abrupt or accusatory. Be tactful when pointing out a flaw.

Because it is almost inevitable that someone at some time is going to see what you have written

and then, even if you were right in your observations – if you were unkind in your delivery, you

will still be in the wrong.

We all know that our supervisors have no time to read instant messages as conversations

happen but occasionally there is a need to find a message for some specific reason, and in the

search all messages in the same time frame might be reviewed. Careers have been lost over

casually written words that were read by someone other than

the intended recipient. Friendships have been crushed and

people’s feelings devastated by thoughtless words that were

meant to be funny to someone else. It only takes a moment,

and lives change.

Days from now the angry Instant Message you sent could be

read by your supervisor. Months from now, your name could

be removed from a list of candidates for promotion because of

your poor judgment. Years from now, some other Facebook

nonsense could make an employer think twice about hiring

you. Electronic words are there “forever”.

It will be there … Forever!