My Favorite Moments in the Sales Department

Before reading on, watch this video to set the mood for this post.      "Submitting multiple tickets actually does get it done faster."   Next, a disclaimer: I work with a lot of seniors, and so I'll be telling mostly stories about said seniors. Every thing I relate below is strictly truth and is in no way meant to be offensive to these lovely people. It's just a fact of life that some people know how to use computers and some don't, and my job is to help those who don't. :)    Ready for my favorite moments in the Sales Department?   : : O N E : :   On my second day of being on the phones, I called to help Beatrice with her email. Her husband, Fred, answered the phone and told me that Beatrice is deaf, so I would need to talk to him. I explained that his wife had sent in a request for help with her email and then asked if I could assist her in any way. Fred began to tell me about how his wife is 99 and bedridden, and that she is always delighted when people call. I smiled, then went to ask again how I could help his wife with her email, expecting to have to direct him through the various steps to get connected, rather than directing Beatrice. Instead of having me help him get into his wife's email, Fred thanked me for calling and asked if I would also send Beatrice a letter asking after her health. Without stopping for breath, he then went on to relate to me the story of how he was driving "much too fast" one day and is now being hunted down by the police because they want to hang him. At this point, I was pretty sure that he had no clue what I was calling for but maybe needed someone to listen to him while he talked - I mean, if his wife is deaf, I can imagine that there isn't much conversation at his house, poor man. He continued to talk about various things that made no sense whatsoever. After a few minutes of absolute nonsense, I said, "Alright, Fred, you have a great day". Fred then replied, "Yes, thank you, and please be sure to mail a letter to us in about a month to see if either of us are still alive". You can bet that I was shocked, so I simply said "Bye", hung up, and then proceeded to cry-laugh. Three weeks later, I still don't know whether to thing of this as a tragic or hilarious moment. I'll let you decide.   : : T W O : :   Speaking of Beatrice, this next moment was a story told to me by a co-worker.   At a previous job, salesperson Mike was listening to a call that a fellow salesperson was making. Fellow salesperson gets an answer on the other line and asks, "Can I speak to Beat Rice?" After hearing that embarrassing story, I make sure that I can actually pronounce a name before I call, OR I ask "who am I speaking to" if it's something beyond my pronunciation. ;)  

 [ I've had that one more times than I can count ]   : : T H R E E : :   On the subject of pronouncing words wrong, my fellow salesperson Alex had two interesting experiences with two different people. After he got off of these two calls, I was laughing so hard that I couldn't make another call until I had calmed down a bit....   Alex: "Alright ma'am, we're going to need to restart your computer." Customer: "I do not have a retarded daughter!"   :'(   Alex: "Hello, this is Alex with email support." Customer: "I don't think I need anal support."   (forgive me for that one)   X'D   : : F O U R : :   I was connected to the computer of a 93-year-old-man (kudos to him for having a computer in the first place) and was explaining to him that his computer was severely malfunctioning. I told him the price but then immediately gave him a discount because I felt bad asking full-price when I knew he would hardly be using the computer once it was cleaned. He protested and said, "Honey, I was just diagnosed with a terminal illness and don't have much time left here. I'm learning that it's just money and if I have it, why not use it? It'll all be my kids' anyway, so why shouldn't I pay to get my computer fixed so that my grandkids can use it?" That man taught me a valuable lesson. I came away from that call still feeling bad that he paid full-price, but also glad that his grandchildren & great-grandchildren would be getting to use a computer that actually worked. What an awesome grandfather!   : : F I V E : :   This one happened only yesterday, and it still has me cringing, especially since it happened again today....  

  What funny moments have you experienced at your work place, tech support-related or not?



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