But Is It Necessary?

I will probably go a little more in depth about products and not just give reviews and such. This post is not about a certain product or a certain company or organization. I just have been perplexed about a phenomenon that has probably been going on since before I was born, but I have only recently had to deal with it.

Like a lot of people, there are times when I choose to purchase a product via the phone. I call and place my order and after I place my order, I am asked about several other items. Most times, I say no, but there are times I will say yes. My first gripe about purchasing over the phone or by catalog/Internet, why is the quality so bad? I was so surprised about the satin, silks and other fabric of my Victoria's Secret purchase that I never purchased from there again. I just could not fathom how satin and silk could be bad. I still can't wrap my mind around it. But what got me is how many "new" items the customer service rep would try and push off on me. I patiently (though my patience did grow thinner by the second) would say no, and then hurriedly got off the phone. I had experienced my first upsells. I was not amused.

It was not until I became that customer service rep that I realized that most companies were disconnected from their customers. If I hate upselling, then there are others like me. As the customer service rep, I found I was not alone. I do wonder how many people dislike upsells, but I cannot provide a figure. As of today, May 15th, I shill for no one. But tomorrow may not be the case.

No matter how many calls I got, I always had to spend a large amount of minutes talking through the upsells. I understand the additional products, but when we got to the excess stuff, both I and my customer were ready for it to be over. And herein lies the disconnect: if 90% of my customers hated the upsells, then why continue them? Are they really pulling in that much profit? And knowing that the customer is annoyed and frustrated, why continue pushing? I could not stop, unless the customer threatened to cancel the whole order. And then there was the wordplay. I would very carefully read it, not for the company's sake, but for the customer, because the wordplay would change, and your no should have been a yes. Is it necessary? No. Well, it is necessary for the company to stay in business, but at what cost?

I often thought the best way around it was to order online. This view did not change until a few months ago. I usually like to do a post-mortem on assignments, jobs, basically any work I did. I just want to know where my strengths and weaknesses are. So, when I went over this, I realized that if I did make a purchase from an infomercial or catalog, I would listen to the upsells. I do it not for the company but for their worker. Most are working from home, and a lot of times the money they make is by the minute and very little. And I still have all of my mental wits about me, and I also have the ability to ask questions (in these instances, never be afraid to ask them to repeat everything they just said), so I can sit there and let them say what they need to make the sell. I came to love that phone call when I worked. I wasn't the best at that style of customer service, so it would take me 30 minutes to get through the call. I was new to the style, and I wanted to take my time so everything was understood. The company I worked for, did everything in 30-minute shifts. So that one phone call most often covered my whole shift when I could only get a half-hour. And that meant a lot to me. If it meant that much to me, it would mean the same to someone else, especially in these times. So, I'll sit through your upsells. You can thank me later. I will still order online, but when the fancy tickles me, I will sit through a phone call. I haven't done that much lately because my wants rarely outweigh my needs.