There is none that has as much power as the boss' PA or secretary. She's the one that wants to know WHY you want to speak to her boss and the reason,
"It's personal" doesn't get you anywhere with her, except perhaps causing her to stifle a yawn!
She does "screening calls" with so much perfection and gutso that she even recognises voices therefore eliminating
ANY chance you have of getting past her using a false name.
She has so much power, in fact, that she can put you on hold indefinitely if you insist; she can even hang up on you while you try to convince her that it is important that you speak to her boss. Damn, this woman will not even give you her boss' e-mail address and instead will give you a generic
info@companyname.co.za address or worse her own e-mail address to send correspondence for her boss' attention to!
I suppose all managers or people in senior management are constantly under pressure and it's understandable how they do not want to be disturbed by sales calls or people looking for work or the
ever irritating Markinor call agents. It's understandable I suppose how the person in charge of the phone would not want to lose their job by putting a call through from some insurance consultant who wants 5 minutes
(that inevitably drag to 30 mins) of his/her time. I'm reasonable enough to understand that BUT the biggest mystery for me is what kind of calls do
these people put through/transfer?
Enter this woman
; she that has just started in the company and has no frikking
idea who runs the zoo; she that puts you on hold but doesn't press the mute button so you end up listening to her shuffling through her papers looking for the extension list or loudly asking her colleagues who the person you're looking for is. She sounds very nervous on the phone and punctuates her speech with "...er" or "...like"
(Errrr..you take the hmmmmm...Woodmead offramp and like turn left at the traffic lights) to give you an idea of her thought processes; she that finally learns where the transfer button on the phone is BUT puts your call through to the wrong person or manages to lose your call thus forcing you to call back and scream at her!
I actually prefer the nervous one to the clueless one who demonstrates how clueless she is by not knowing what her company is about. You know, the kind that just wants to transfer your call to the
sales department (when you enquire about
prices), the
marketing department (when you're looking for a fax
number) or the
driver when you're looking for
directions to her company. She's the woman that sounds like she's reading the company brochure when you ask for information on the company and won't pause long enough for you to ask questions in between. *pulling hair in frustration-PHIF*
She's the one that asks, "Do you mind holding?" but doesn't wait for you to respond before she goes ahead and transfers your call!!
Naturally, the person to whom she directed your call is not in the office and the phone
naturally routes back to her and she picks up your call like you're calling for the 1st time or asks,
"and you're holding for?", while you grind your teeth in frustration and feel like your heart's about to burst!!
Tied in last position are the flirts, the hang on a minute lady and the gossiper!
If I am standing in front of you and you are on the phone, please cut short your
*smooches*-cum-*oh you naughty boy*-cum-*i'd love to go out with you but my boyfriend's in town* talk long enough to find out if i actually want assistance and am not just standing there cause I'm admiring your headset!
Please do not tell me to hang on for a minute while you pick up call after call after call after call after call..u get the drill AND please, oh please, cut your
*oh- no- she- didn't!-cum- Say what?!-cum- Nooooooo!!-cum-I also saw him pinching that tart Mary's bum at the last Bingo game* call short long enough to notice that
I'm giving you the stare down and I'm sighing loudly and I'm weight shifting from one leg to the other AND pacing the floor cause i'm seething with frustration at the sheer incompetence (that is you) I'm witnessing!
I could go on about the many things that irritate me about people that answer phones but will end it here.
On the flip side are irritating callers-but
that's anada blog!
Of course this isn't an accurate break-down of all the secretaries, PA's, Office Executives or whatever the heck they are called these days.
If your sense of humour disappeared somewhere between clicking on this blog and reading it, please close this blog and pretend you never saw it!