Of course, that would be “…without sounding ignorant.”
I really do preview this crap I write. Why do I keep missing shit? Fucking brain. :::grrrr::::
That sounds fine to me. I have to admit, though, I’m at a loss to understand the difference between saying “I don’t know”, and answering “no” to the question “Do you know?” Are the two not equivalent?
Well, yes, they are equivalent in the intent of the message, but not in the sound of the message. Whereas “no” sounds definitive (even to the question, “Do you know…”), “I don’t know” sounds weak. But, essentially, you’re right. The message is the same. It’s all in your delivery, I guess.
I’m not sure if I can explain that any better.
Caller: Can I speak with Boss?
Me: Boss isn’t in at this time. Can I take a message?
Caller: When might I be able to reach him?
Me: I’m sorry, I don’t have that information. If you’d like to leave a message, I’d be happy to get it to him as soon as he returns.
Caller: Will he be back sometime today?
Me: He didn’t say. Would you like me to transfer you to his voicemail?
Yeah, you just said you have no idea. However, this way sounds more professional and more helpful than a flat “I don’t know”. By immediately following the negative (something you can’t do) with a positive (something you can do), you’re telling your caller that you want to help them. “I don’t know”, regardless of how true it is, sounds lazy and discouraging. It sounds to me like you have a terrible boss, btw. If I were you, I’d be discussing this with him or actively seeking alternative employment.
Well, to me it’s more about each person who calls has their own crisis.
Now, to me, a crisis involves blood, death, dismemberment or possible deportation. But to a client, the crisis is whether or not they get to go to the football game next friday.
Next friday.
So, I think a lot of this is I deal with teenagers and their parents. Most of our parents don’t have a lot of good social skills, and neither do their children.
But by offering to take a message, and offering voicemail, I am actively giving people a chance to let their officer know that this client is trying to get a hold of him/her.
But most of the clients don’t want to have to wait even five minutes to find out the answer to their life-ending problem. No, they have to know now. So they procede with the questions anyway.
Look, I am not the mother of the probation officers. I am just the records assistant. I can give a general estimate of when they might be back in the office, but that does not mean they are going to be available at that time. They are busy people, with upwards 20-30 clients. Leave a message.
But 90% of them never leave messages. They just call back. Over and over and over, frustrating themselves and us.
Wow. You’re truly an idiot.
I never said I thought you were being rude to people on the phone, you nitwit. Your conduct here was what I was referring to when I said you were a wee bit over the top. What a dipshit.
Not worth my time. Have a nice life enjoying mediocrity and wondering why you were fired again.
Sat on Cookie
to whom are you referring?
You’re being deliberatly obtuse with your “I don’t know”. You do, in fact, have a pretty damn good idea that BossMan will be back that very afternoon, but you force your clients, the people who keep your paychecks from bouncing, to assume this, rather than just fucking say “he should be back this afternoon”.
God forbid you throw a fucking bone to the people who are writing nice fat checks to your boss, allowing him to write checks to you. The right thing to do is keep throwing pathetic "I don’t know"s in their faces, so they think both you and your boss are unprofessional and take their business elsewhere.
You expect the client to immediately understand something you already know by giving a quick reference to it. It doesn’t work that way. You need to communicate this information to the client. If there seems to be frequent problems like this, where the client isn’t getting your drift, I don’t think it’s because you have a whole collection of stupid clients, look in the mirror.
I have no great problem with it annoying you. It is my opinion that being annoyed from your first example is unfounded and that the conversation as written was a reasonable one with no one saying anything worthy of annoyance. Still, if you want to be annoyed, go right ahead.
In your first example you say that your boss is out running errands. You assume that the client will assume that that doesn’t mean all day (because who runs errands all day without coming back to work?). However, the client requires clarification. Why? Because you have not stated plainly that your boss will probably be back later in the day. Did you do that on purpose? No. Therefore you have unwittingly witheld helpful information from the client and then become annoyed (though I’m sure you didn’t show it at the time) that the client wanted more information. It’s just a basic break down in communication and neither of you are at fault.
How about this. When is the earliest that you KNOW your boss will be back? This afternoon? Tomorrow morning? You could easily have said “It is possible that he’ll be back this afternoon, but he’ll definitely be back tomorrow morning, try calling then.” That way you turn the focus from what you DON’T know to what you DO know which is far more helpful to the client and sounds far more professional.
Ok, this probably isn’t quie in the business speak that the Canvas one is talking of, but in the above situation I would try to say this:
“He is out of the office running errands. It may take him all day so you would be best to try again tomorrow morning. If you like I can take a message, but he may not get it till tomorrow morning.”
Who cares? That post was so over-the-top and completely divorced from reality, it’s not even worth responding to.
Good suggestions, Death Ray. Thanks. Silver Fire, yours is good as well - I like the “he didn’t say” idea, rather than “I don’t know”; it succinctly explains that the boss is the one who has failed to provide information. I want to point out though, that I already did provide the option of leaving a message; you made it sound like I didn’t.
I understand your position. I disagree with it.
Thank you; I will.
We’re going in circles now. I think what I said clearly implies that the boss is NOT gone for the day. You keep insisting it doesn’t. So let’s agree to disagree, eh?
Cheesesteak, you sound angry. This was just supposed to be a little light-hearted thread about an incident that happened to me yesterday. I’m not going to let anyone else drag me into a name-calling match. You’ll have to get your aggressions out somewhere else. Good bye.
Not quite. I agree that it implies that he’s not gone for the day, but I also think there is enough ambiguity to warrant clarification.
I agree, lets agree to disagree.
,if this call is ANNOYING!
(Me): Hello, I’d like to speak with Atty. Blotnick (names changed to protect the miscreants)
(Lawyer’s Secretary): Sorry, he is in court!
(Me): Well, it is rather important, my divorce is tomorrow, and I want to ask him a few questions"
(Assiatant): WE, he will be calling in…
(Me) :Thanks, I will call baclk
Next morning, at 9:00 AM (at courthouse):
(Me): Hello, is Atty. Blotnick there?
(Assiatant): Sorry, he;'s in court…
(Me): Oh, really WHICH court is that?
(Assistant): I’m sorry, he took his wife to the hospital…
(Me): Really, he is due in court here at 10:00 AM!
(Assistant): Well, he’ll be calling in…
(Me): Tell him not to bother, I’ll represent myself!
(Assistant)" He should be calling in…
(Me): CLICK!
Well now you lost me again. A statement is either clear, or it is ambiguous. By definition, it cannot be both. But I’ll still agree to disagree.
Well, one thing I do is get information from the client, such as “Sir, is there something in particular you needed to speak with him about? I might be able to help you”.
If the client wanted the boss and only the boss, rather than say just “I don’t know” I’d say exactly what you’ve said here to us. Only more formal.
So, if he asks so you don’t know what time he’ll be back at all? Instead of saying “no, I have no idea” or “I don’t know”. Say “he is out of the office on errands, but generally speaking he takes X amount of time to complete his errands, that would put him back here at approximately X:00, would you like to leave him a message? If you do not hear back from him at X:00 plus 10 minutes, It will mean that he was delayed, but you can call at that time, and I may have heard from him and have a better time for you”.
I know, I know…pain in the butt, SAME exact thing as saying “I don’t know”. But you’d be amazed at how well it works, I think it’s the old “baffle 'em with BS” thingie.
Even worked for me on a recent temp job where local candidates were calling a media consultant type company for ad spots assistance. I barely had a clue who the people who worked at the agency were, but even when some overly self important candidate would call, if the person they wanted to speak with was gone, I could bs them into accepting voice mail in nothing flat.
Just with the fake “here is how I can help YOU” routine.
That’s a really good question. And I think, having done this for a while, that the answer really is no, the two are NOT equivelant.
The phrase “I don’t know” really is some sort of business black hole, whereas you do seem to get lots of [scooby doo]RuuuurrruUUUUUHHH??? [/scooby doo] type reactions.
I’ve fallen victim to this myself lots of times, the phrase really does seem to light some sort of “This cannot BE” type error loop in even the most reasonable person’s head. Honestly, I think that’s what is happening in your case. It’s not that they’re translating the phrase as thinking you’re hiding information or something.
Although, as in CCL’s case, sometimes people work themselves into such a state of desperation that the information doesn’t pierce the void.
Either way, imho, you have every right to annoyance, sometimes clients are just annoying.
The part I can’t understand is when I call a supplier, and they are on the phone, and I’m rolled over to voice mail, I leave something like this:
Me: Hi Fuzzy, this is dwc. I’ve got a customer who is interested in a Spankmeister 2004, with the Wobbulator head. I checked out the website, and it isn’t clear as far as whether or not the Wobbulator can be powered from the Spankmeister power supply. Give me a call regarding interconnect, cost, and lead time. My office line is 555.555.5555.
The next day I come home to a message:
Fuzzy: Hi dwc. Give me a call when you get in.
Since Fuzzy was gone for the day, I now call back two days after the original inquiry, and have to repeat every fucking detail left on the original message, and then am told he’ll get back to me.
Sometimes I get the distinct feeling that nobody fucking listens anymore. ::four-alarm apeshit smiley::
I’m sorry I wasn’t clear. I know you gave them that option, but if you look at my example, I’m saying it every single time I tell them, “No”. Maybe you do this already, and that’s good, but everytime you tell someone “No”, you should follow up with a “Yes”. “I can’t tell you that. Here’s what I can do.”
It reinforces that you’re not some lazy receptionist who just doesn’t give a fuck, but that you’re willing to help. I’ve never been a receptionist/call center employee/tech support/etc., but I’ve had to call several companies (phone, ISP, cell service, cable and on and on) for help for one thing or another and nothing pisses me off more than hearing “no” over and over. Your job is to help me and if all you’re doing is giving me negative responses, that’s not helpful! (Generic “you”, this isn’t directed at blowero.)
While I’m here, I think I’ll chime in on the “running errands” thing. Yes, maybe that phrase should imply that your boss will be back before day’s end, but not everyone knows your boss. Some people might be thinking of their own boss, who’s a total dickhead and says, “Oh yeah, I’m running errands.” and then doesn’t show up back at the office for 18 hours. I think a simple, “He’s out of the office now, but I do expect him to return later today.” or “He’s out of the office. I don’t expect him to return today.” would work just fine. At that time, remind them again that they have the option of leaving a message or, with the first example, perhaps they’d like to call back later. The people who continue to grill you after that are probably just assholes who think the world revolves around them anyway.