A Theology of Customer Service

I think I am justified in quitting my NTUC job. By the way it is the No.1 or No. 2 Call Centre in Singapore. They will pick up your phone call by the second ring, which is about 2 seconds. I have actually tried that :X. Imagine the amount of stress I had to face in a job (non-stop picking up calls) that requires you to be nice and sometimes untruthful. The insight was gained when I was calling the Toshiba hotline to enquire how many decades they needed to repair my keyboard and the phone rang like 20 rings and nobody picked it up. So I rationalised and figured that it was a good decision to have left NTUC. Heh.

Anyway I was teaching today on how to write formal sentences politely and appropriately. And it triggered off memories of yours truly as a pathetic call operator trying to appease the wrath of unreasonable people and telling them half-truths and coaxing and persuading with endless counts of apologies which I don't mean and would gladly take them back in a heartbeat. One example:

"Your handwriting is so messy that we cannot read it" had to be changed to "Unfortunately we are unable to read part of your message". And I was telling the class that in order to please your customer/client, you, as someone working in a company must never remind them of their shortcomings. Rather rephrase such sentences as if it is your fault, not theirs. And that's how Customer Service is like. Polite, but half-truths. Always your fault. Customers are always right. In other words: Plain rubbish.

And one student stood up and proclaimed, "But Cher, if someone lousy you must tell them what..." Reluctantly I replied, "No, you cannot do that.. that is not how you serve people..."

Of course, deep down in my heart, I was like, "Right on! My sentiments precisely." I believe that service to people ought never to be separated from telling the truth, but well, that's how the industry works.

I guess part of such an inclination towards telling the truth and not fearing that I would be ending up not sounding nice and polite comes from several years of upbringing in the church, and of course the plain words of Scripture. As someone who has come to know God, I need be humbled, and I need be told the plain truth that I am a helpless sinner whom, without the grace of God, will never come to redemption. And the same attitude of truth-telling and humility is expected of all Christians. If someone criticises you, you ought to examine what they say. Compare to Scripture, and if found true, repent and change. And that is the lifestyle Christians live. We are not afraid of criticisms, but rather welcome them, if only they would spur us on to greater holiness and likeness of the One who made and redeemed us. It is a joyful thing to be criticised, and that is what the world filled with pride cannot accept. We value truth, even if it hurts. We recognise Truth is a divine attribute and an inseparable aspect of God's moral perfection. In fact we have already accepted the truth that hurt us most, so what other truths ought we not accept?

So, at the end of the day, I find it plain nonsense to have to apologize to people who do not deserve such apology. I find it plain nonsense to tell someone "Ok, I will forward to my supervisor to help you see if you can claim the money..." when the obvious answer is "No. You cannot."

But that's how the industry works, I guess. I don't necessarily think it is wrong, I simply think it clashes with my life philosophy.