I struggled for so long with phone calls. I had been at university so long that I couldn't even remember when I had used a landline the last time, because I hadn't had one at home for 10 years, at least. I'm not a very shy person, but I hate it when other people can hear my phone calls. It is partly due to my voice, partly because of bad experiences and not knowing what to say.
It became a real problem when I arrived at this horrible open office space with desk islands of four people and only one phone in the middle of the island. I didn't think any phone call was for me and I let it ring... At another job I didn't know how to put someone on hold or transfer a call. There just didn't seem to be clear buttons on those phones that worked (and this wasn't my imagination).
The problem I had with many workplaces was that I never got told exactly how to use a professional landline. A lot of landlines are very different, is what I have learned from experience. The bigger problem is that no company puts in the time and money to properly train you to communicate with others...
Or is there?
That's when I had a plan. I was going to prove that I can do phone calls! I saw a job listing at... an alarm central! They would give me training!
And how was I right! I got hired after some good written tests and a short interview with some friendly people. Then a week of training started.
I got cold sweat when we got introduced to the telephones, but was relieved when I saw we were getting headsets. Microphones make my voice louder, and not having to hold a phone would increase my concentration. Also, my trainer gave me a manuscript. He then put all the beginners at a phone and made us dial and pick up, put on hold and transfer in different situations. I have to say though, that their system had a highly effective call track system where you could see all incoming calls, numbers, and all internal codes of everyone who was present at work. All the beginners messed up a bit and I could swear there was errors in the system too, but we got a hang of it after a couple of hours.
So, after learning how to use the hardware, all I had to do was lower my anxiety and focus on my message. The trainer than thought is to answer some questions in the different languages we were supposed to know. I knew French very well aside from English, but speaking it was so different!
Mind you, this was an alarm central for health issues abroad during travel, it wasn't an emergency service. No one's life was at stake. I did chose to add that option later when I had more experience. An alarm central for assistance for health issues abroad during travel is slightly less stressful. Liability wise, it is quite low risk for a beginner. We learned how to type a file in different steps on the screen, while talking and asking questions to the caller. The focus I needed on the correct steps took away some of my anxiety.
When my first day started, I was extremely nervous. I got a call instantly and it was a mess. The man on the line spoke French and I panicked because there was so much noise and I couldn't find my words. There is a lot of medical jargon involved. The first week was a nightmare, I felt like I was doing everything wrong, that my files were full of mistakes. Every night when I got home, I could barely move from the pure panick I had felt all day. I constantly needed to ask questions and write things down for next time.
The upside was that in this setting, I was perfectly allowed to ask a lot of questions and leave lots of tasks to the actual file manager who would handle whatever file I had typed up. My job was to just gather as much as information as possible. I was sure they wouldn't keep me though, and I was getting agressive and depressed. Why was I doing this job to myself? People were talking loudly in my ears all day in three languages, and I have hyper sensitive hearing. Why was I doing this?
Yes, I made a lot of little mistakes. Missing info, making a caller believe they had to do something, which I hadn't said at all. A bunch of little things really. My French became exponentially better, and I wrote down every single error in order to improve and to show it in case I got a negative feedback. I learned to interupt annoying callers who kept telling me their life stories, I learned to say to people when it wasn't up to us to decide on something! Basically, I learned to defend myself and my company, which was a huge step forward.
It took an entire month to get a nice routine in things, and that's when it became very busy. The place was so loud that I didn't care anymore who heard. It was far more stressful when I was alone there in the early or late hours and coworkers could hear every word I was saying. When there was a good flow, I asked all the right questions, and my files were more complete than those of others. I do think I was the best worker of the bunch that started, except for one guy who was much older and more relaxed. I started to gain respect and I felt really happy to work there. When it got calmer again, there were chitchats, lolligagging with co-workers. It was a very diverse group of people, all educated and hard working. I even got a relationship out of it. And I made good money, about 2200 euros a month.
The stress in general did make me start smoking again and there were this one person who was extremely loud and annoying. But I got so good at calling that I also picked up the emergency calls from the personal alarms. One time, someone needed an ambulance and I handled it well, while we were not an ambulance service. Of the beginners, I felt like I made the most improvement, the most ethical, reliable, punctual and with the most complete files.
It was a four month seasonal job and I was both relieved and sad when it was over. Relieved, because it was a tough job. You have to talk and listen for 8 hours in multiple languages, and some people are downright rude. I got a rude call at least once a day but I learned to not take it personally, and that by the evening I would be chilling at home. I learned that phone calls are just what they are, temporary business actions, and that you need to switch off your emotions as much as you can and be professional. Some co-workers were slightly too friendly, others too slow, and other too angry to clients. I was too helpful and curious. We all had to adapt, but at least we got a chance to!
The routine of a structured assistence call job, combined with a light and fun work athmosphere will make you associate phone calls with an enjoyable work day. The focus will be more on the frequency that you call, and the content, and it will distract yourself from your own stress, your emotions, and the dislike of your own voice, because the job just needs to be done. After a while, you won't even know anymore why you were afraid of calling.
Phone assistence companies are also usually quite large, with a clear management structure, good HR and much support. The co-workers are diverse, and are either very experienced are seasonal, and so come and go just like you. You won't be judged for your fear of phone calls, even though they are an alarm central. It does help if you can speak two or more languages, because these employees are even higher in demand.
This job even made me consider doing something similar for other companies.
And that is how I got over my fear of calling. When I arrive at a new company, the first thing I do is check the hardware, and without shame I google how to hold and tranfer (both cold and warm: cold is where you transfer without saying anything to your coworker, and warm is where you talk to them first). It sucks that every phone is different. At my current office there are fours steps to put on hold and four to transfer! How stupid is that? No one explained me properly, so I Googled it and wrote it down in all my notes for that job. I learned to always say who I am, from what company, and to stay neutral and professional in my tone of voice and content.
And that is how I got over my fear of calling.
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