agents asking irrelevant questions

[shellfish]

as a pinoy based in the u.s., i had the chance of speaking with several agents from a phils based call center. lagi tinatanong, "i want to know...are you filipina?"

I don't mind being asked, pero I can't help but be taken aback by the question. I've experienced this when I called office depot (twice!), an internet equipment manufacturer (forgot the name but it was referred by verizon dsl), at&t and dish network.

Ang question is: does the management encourage this to build rapport with the customer? or talagang trip lang ng agent?

[Milliardo]

It actually depends on the agent, although IMO asking such a question is already invasive of one's privacy.

[supremo elyag]

^^Building rapport is encouraged but I wouldn't ask that question to my customer. Usually I'm the kind of rep who just waits for my customer to initiate conversation while I stretch my neurons on how to go about with the concern.

[Newbie_101]

as a pinoy based in the u.s., i had the chance of speaking with several agents from a phils based call center. lagi tinatanong, "i want to know...are you filipina?"

I don't mind being asked, pero I can't help but be taken aback by the question. I've experienced this when I called office depot (twice!), an internet equipment manufacturer (forgot the name but it was referred by verizon dsl), at&t and dish network.

Ang question is: does the management encourage this to build rapport with the customer? or talagang trip lang ng agent?

I've encountered my fair share of these types of calls but they're from Australia and pag nalaman nila na pinoy ka rin tuwang tuwa sila although hind ko sila ina ask directly kung pinoy nga sila, mga pahaging lang tulad ng "your name sounds familiar are you spanish?" tapos sabihin "we have spanish lineage but I'm Filipino" good times *** mga ganung call, wait bakit parang pissed off ka ata kung tinatanong ka kung pinoy ka? :)

[Aranda_Bay]

Some agents do that probably to hear a friendly voice once in a while after hundreds of unfriendly (or worse, irate) customers. On an outbound sales campaign however, be wary. For tech support calls however, you have to thank your stars for coming across a Filipino agent because they most often than not, give you preferential treatment and would usually walk the extra mile for you, lalu na pag nilambing mo. And for tech support agents, they can do away with unecessary banter to keep their AHTs at a minimum.

[shellfish]

wait bakit parang pissed off ka ata kung tinatanong ka kung pinoy ka? :)

hindi naman. like i said, i don't mind being asked. nagugulat lang ako na pwede pala yun 'coz i know that "calls may be recorded for training purposes". Unless part yung question na yun sa training…

besides, i don't try hard to attain that perfect american accent. basta di matigas yung english ko, ayos na. it is what it is. so i know for sure na malalaman na pinay ako sa phone. Some pinoys (agent or not) may not realize this, pero pag pinoy ang kausap mo, malalaman mo talaga eh. May mga words na pag sinabi, dead give-away na pinoy ang nagsasalita. So really, wala sa akin yun. *okay*

Yun nga lang, agents who do this should watch out though. May ibang pinoy kasi rito sa u.s. na feeling 'kano na sila at sensitive sa ganyang question. Tipong sasagot ng, "what does that have to do with my order (or question)?"

[jo3l]

if you are a robotic-type of agent, you don't need rapport. importante rapport lalo na sa sales.

[stars_14]

when I have pinoy callers, when I'd hear their voices... gumagaan pakiramdam ko. I'd like to do everything sa call.. not minding the AHT and after the call.. feels good, I dnt ask them if they're Filipino, tama na yung I know they're one. Usually they're malambing magsalita at makulit eh, unlike the spanish callers.

[kobe8]

agents should really be sensitive to these kind of questions. Not only are they irrelevant, it's not the best way to build rapport. As what has been mentioned, it may have a contrary effect since it may be construed as invasive.

as far as my personal experience is concerned, i wait for my callers to ask whether i'm filipino or not. afterwhich, i openly tell them that indeed, i'm from the philippines. plain and simple. no harm, no foul.

asking whether you're caller is a filipino or not, is not something that we encourage. we tell our agents that our client service customers across the globe, without distinguishing whether they're filipino or not. Having said that, i don't think it's proper for us to distinguish our callers as well.

[startrekker]

Rapport is encouraged even on technical support calls, I would rather not ask the question "are you a Filipino?" because it is very awkward, unnatural and unprofessional.

And yes, shelfish - there are lots of Filipinos who think they are American and would feel offended when asked the question. I once asked an Indian "Are you Indian?" - He replied "Oh my does it show!?"
I felt that I had violated the guy's privacy.

Pwede rin trip lang ng agent.

[Aces_21]

It depends on the account... Samin pag pinoy ang caller naks kwntuhan na yan tapos ammaya tatawaran ka na sa hotel etc... hahaha... Ayos lang... konti hinga naman pagkatapos kausapin ang ilang puti..

[shellfish]

I once asked an Indian "Are you Indian?" - He replied "Oh my does it show!?"
I felt that I had violated the guy's privacy.



that's true. that's a sticky situation you got yourself into. kasi parang implied na your cx fits the stereotype that you have inside your head.

your post gave me a different perspective on the topic.

[joshako]

Yes, it is not the best way to build rapport. Pag may ka chat ako at parang Filipino ang dating ng pangalan, tinatanong ko "How's the weather there?" hahaha kasi sasagot yan "It's cold here! What about there? Where are you?" -- sa amin pwede sabihin na dito sa Manila. Pag sinabi mo Manila, sasabihin "Manila!!! Kumusta na dyan, sobrang init ba dyan?" hahaha