The Convenient Road

(Posted Mar 7, '08 11:14 AM)

Prior to leaving the call center industry, I remember talking to one of my best friends in Convergys, my former Unit Manager, Val.

He already knew I’m counting days in our company. In fact, he was one of the few people who knew early on about my plans to venture to another industry. He encouraged me to follow my passion, and when my final decision came out- it didn’t came to him as a surprise.

He was a witness to my humble beginnings as a sales agent (hehe… dramatic effect). From a carefree and renegade newbie, eventually, I became one of the top sellers of His team. But the good days did not last long. I went through the same phase as most agents do… it’s what I call the “call center version” of a midlife crisis.

Most of my batch mates felt it in their 1st three months and they resigned accordingly. I wasn’t able to empathize with them at first because I was progressing in my job and was selling a lot. But around my 6th month in production, the bug hit me. Suddenly I felt tired of taking calls. The routine of the job was becoming super heavy weight. Constant streams of rejection are starting to sink in. Irate calls seemed eternal. The daily, weekly, monthly goals became unbearable. I’m starting to question if this would be the job I’ll be doing for the rest of my life- saying “Welcome to Customer Service my name is Jeff… How may I help you?” almost 80 times a day, 5 times a week, 20 days a month, 240 days a year- excluding overtime.

Right then, I’ve wanted to resign. I prayed for guidance and strength hoping God would give me the answer I’ve wanted to hear. But the answer to my question at that time was very clear… “Stay”.

And so I did.

Val knew I was just pushing and dragging myself to work. But I worked nevertheless and tried to pass my metrics even if I knew the water in the well was already dried up. Val told me there are two ways to get out of the phone- either I call it quits or be promoted. If I quit I might just end as what most people are already doing- call center hopping as an agent (which will only perpetuate the cycle and not solve my desire to be off the phone). And since I’m already in the best call center in the country (haha.. no offense to the others), I decided to might as well just push my luck for a promotion.

To make the long story short, obeying to stay proved to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Two months after, there was an opening for a trainer position. I applied for it and I got it. The months after were challenging yet very rewarding. I’ve learned a lot- especially in terms of public speaking, client relations and team management. These are the things I never could have learned if I chose the convenient road early on. Come to think of it, these are also the things that made me qualify me for my next job outside the call center.

That’s why when another opportunity came up for me to work in another industry, I had peace knowing the time was ripe for me to move on.

True enough, even up to know, there are still a lot of things to learn.

Yet painfully I admit, some of the greatest lessons in life I learned by not getting what I want- or at least not getting it my way. No doubt, I still hope that God would give me all the desires of my heart. But as wisdom would put it, the best road may not be the one most convenient.