Action Vs. Words
I worked in an in-bound call center for cellular phone insurance for almost five years. One of the ideas promoted for this type of work is how to show empathy. How to make people truly believe we are doing the best we can to solve their problem, because we care about the issue. And to be honest, I'm sure everyone there did want to do their best to help the other person. But also to be honest, by the time we handled hundreds of calls a day, one person dropping their phone in the toilet sounded just like the last person who dropped their phone in the toilet. They blurred together. And sometimes we didn't care if the person had a pink phone and ended up getting a silver one in its place.
Be that as it may, we had regular training on how to show empathy to people that we were talking to. There were many catch phrases we were to use. "I can understand your frustration. I would be upset if that happened to me." "I wish there were more that I could do." "If I could, I would." It became just a part of the job. Customer yells, "I need my phone. I hope you die!" Call center employee responds back, "I wish there were more than I could do. I would be upset as well." It wasn't that I did not pay attention to what the customer was saying, but the words just came out. I didn't really feel them.
Maybe these years working in a call center made me jaded. And maybe that's why I would rather have someone be a little bit rude and answer my question than respond with a positive attitude and empathy but do nothing to help.
I was just watching the movie Patch Adams the other day. The scene that always stands out to me is the one in which the main character is talking with his psychologist. The psychologist is pretending to listen while taking notes, so Patch Adams begins making up a crazy story. The psychologist doesn't notice, because he is not really listening. He is giving an answer, but nothing more.
I am more of a person of action. I don't care what your words are if they're empty. Show me that you're listening. Don't just tell me.
I think, in general, society today has come to crave empathy over anything. We're willing to settle for anything as long as the person smiles. They can repeat the same words over and over again, and it's all good. We "feel" like they are doing something because they sound so positive. We've been brainwashed into believing that empathy and a positive attitude and a smile can change anything. But they don't.
Actions speak louder than words any day.
Be that as it may, we had regular training on how to show empathy to people that we were talking to. There were many catch phrases we were to use. "I can understand your frustration. I would be upset if that happened to me." "I wish there were more that I could do." "If I could, I would." It became just a part of the job. Customer yells, "I need my phone. I hope you die!" Call center employee responds back, "I wish there were more than I could do. I would be upset as well." It wasn't that I did not pay attention to what the customer was saying, but the words just came out. I didn't really feel them.
Maybe these years working in a call center made me jaded. And maybe that's why I would rather have someone be a little bit rude and answer my question than respond with a positive attitude and empathy but do nothing to help.
I was just watching the movie Patch Adams the other day. The scene that always stands out to me is the one in which the main character is talking with his psychologist. The psychologist is pretending to listen while taking notes, so Patch Adams begins making up a crazy story. The psychologist doesn't notice, because he is not really listening. He is giving an answer, but nothing more.
I am more of a person of action. I don't care what your words are if they're empty. Show me that you're listening. Don't just tell me.
I think, in general, society today has come to crave empathy over anything. We're willing to settle for anything as long as the person smiles. They can repeat the same words over and over again, and it's all good. We "feel" like they are doing something because they sound so positive. We've been brainwashed into believing that empathy and a positive attitude and a smile can change anything. But they don't.
Actions speak louder than words any day.
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