Watch What You Say At Work

As a call center rep, you don't need me to tell you how important it is to watch what you say to customers - you have your Supervisor and Quality Assurance team to do that. What I'd like to tell you about though is how important it is to your job advancement opportunities to watch what you say to your co-workers and management.



Today CNN.com is taking a poll asking “Have you ever made a comment at work that damaged your career?" So far out of the 56,320 people who responded, 57% said NO and 43% said YES. I would tend to argue that the percentage of people responding NO includes people who just don’t realize that they have already said things that damaged their career.

When I was a call center director, I was amazed at some of the remarks that reps seriously made to me – and then a few weeks or a month later, really believe that I would still consider them for a call center leadership position. Here are some of the more memorable ones:

• “I was partying all weekend – do you have any No Doze pills I can take so I’m not so sleepy when handling customer calls?”


• “Where in the employee handbook does it say I can’t tell a customer that he sucks?”


• “Sorry for not being here yesterday but I had another severe attack of depression. I’m on medication now, still disoriented but ready to take customer phone calls”.


• “I’d leave this job if I could but I can’t pass the drug test at other companies I interview with”.


• “Sorry I missed work yesterday, but I beat the sh... out of my ex-wife’s new boyfriend and I was in jail.”


• “I don’t care if the company policy says we can’t use offensive words – this is the way I talk and I don’t give a f...!”


• “But I only had the pornographic photos displayed on one side of my cubicle!”

This article has more things NOT to say at work.

If you are in a situation where you are meeting one-on-one with your supervisor, manager or anyone in call center management – THINK before you speak. I know this can be particularly challenging in a situation where you are being counseled on job performance. You’re first reaction is to go on the defensive and talk out of the heat of the moment. This will dig your career deeper into the hole. Most call center supervisors and managers expect the rep to get defensive when being counseled. Don’t let that happen to you – don’t make them have to manage you. Instead manage yourself and take control of the situation. Respond back with a respectful and positive statement. For example:

“I’m sorry that I’m not meeting job performance standards as I take my job and career seriously. I’m going to think about what you’ve counseled me on and do my best to improve my performance in that area. Along the way, I’d really appreciate your help in giving me periodic feedback so that I know for sure I am meeting your expectations”.

If you really have a hard time agreeing with what your Supervisor is counseling you on, then just insert these words before the second sentence: “Even though I don’t completely agree with your assessment of my performance…..”.

This type of statement will truly impress your supervisor (and maybe even make them feel a little bit guilty for putting you on disciplinary action). This type of statement demonstrates maturity, professionalism and teamwork (i.e. you are committed to meeting your company’s standards). However, for this statement to bring you long-lasting career benefits, you must follow-up a statement like this with your actions – otherwise you’ll be back in a counseling meeting with your Supervisor and that type of statement won’t sound credible again.

What you say will leave a lasting impression – make it a good one!