Why do some people not train their receptionists?

[eyesroll]

I'm doing a ton of cold calling today for a story. I end up reaching gate keepers. Many of them are nice, and take the message, or transfer me to voice mail, and tell me to have a nice day. I have no quibble with these people.

BUT:
I also get people who say, "Sure, he's here, can I ask who's calling," and then DON'T EVEN BOTHER TO MUTE when they ask, "Hey, boss, it's Stacie from that magazine, should I get rid of her?" and then come back, "I'm sorry, he's on the other name."

OR: "He's not in right now, may I take a message?" (I much prefer voice mail, but many people in my industry don't have it.)

And I say, sure, and begin, "This is Stacie Whit-" and then they invariably interrupt with, "Hold on a sec, I gotta grab a pen." And then, even sometimes, "Hm. I can't seem to find one, can I put you on hold again?"

Now, I understand when I call someone's house and leave a message, they won't have a pen handy. I also understand that some people need a few seconds delay, to shift from "phone answering" to "message taking." But the ones who can't find a pen -- when they apparently take many messages in the course of their day --what's up with that?

Sorry. This story's been frustrating.
:argh:

[prolesunited]

1. I am constantly amazed

by the stupidity of many service people these days.

So, what's the story you're working on and what's been frustrating besides the receptionists?

[eyesroll]

5. Two stories -- "building a brand" and "my biggest mistake"

General frustration, mostly -- people who say they'll respond and then don't, that sort of thing. Nothing I'm not used to, though.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. Arggh -- receptionists

Actually my peeve is from the other side, I used to be the system adminstrator at a busy ISP. I had to continually nag the receptionists not to transfer calls to me unless they first found out who the caller was, and what the call was about, and asked me if I was available to take the call.... I mean, isn't that the basic job of a receptionist? Otherwise, why even have a receptionist? ok, rant over...

[MI Cherie]

3. A good secretary or ...

... receptionist is worth their weight in gold or more.

I've seen many places that can hardly operate for a day if the gatekeeper is gone. Yet the CEO can take two weeks off and is barely missed.

Some people treat them like they're a dime a dozen and pay them just as poorly. As with many things, they get what they pay for.

[VelmaD]

4. Not everyone who answers the phones...

is a receptionist btw. In my office it's everybody's responsibility to pick up the phone for people who aren't in the office. Explains why not everyone has a pen handy. Answering phones might not be the person you talked to's primary job.

[eyesroll]

7. Good point.

I guess that excuses the no-pen thing, but not the "hey, boss, should I get rid of her?" stuff. That's just bad.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

14. Great point

I'm low man on the totem pole here, so I get to answer phones, but if you know of any receptionists that handle $100k/year accounts by themselves, I'd love to know about it.

[Loonman]

6. Cold calls

Nobody cold calling on the phone or in person gets past me.

[eyesroll]

8. And that's fine...

I've done receptionist work before, and I understand that some people do not want uninvited conversation, period.

I'm assuming you're polite, though. One of the gatekeepers (see above) wasn't.

[Loonman]

11. That one was trained........poorly

I have a very shortlist of salespeople that I will give the superstar treatment.

It isn't any simpler, that if salepeople and vendors are polite to me, I will bend over backward for them. Sometimes even if they don't have an appointment.

I have the company T-shirts, pens and handouts to prove it. Never solicit a single thing, but salespeople who get the star treatment from me give me any company promos they have on hand.

[curse10]

9. The problem is, people don't pay receptionists well enough

if it was a higher paying job you'd have smarter people doing it. I was a receptionist for a gigantic law firm. They had gone through 6 receptionists in 5 months because they couldn't handle the huge phone system. I was hired for a crappy 11 bucks an hour. I was trained and functioning in less than an hour. When I gave my notice because the job was boring and paid less than what I required to be bored off my ass for 8 hours a day they were sad (best receptionist ever, btw) but were unwilling to give me a pay raise because it's "just a receptionist."

[trof]

10. Here's what I hate:

"Hello?"
"trof?"
<alarm bells-telemarketer>
"He's not in right now."
"Oh, this is Lucy from Dr. Smith's office?"
Well jeez...why the hell didn't you say so?

It should go like this:
"Hello, this is Lucy from Dr. Smith's office. Is this Mr.-----?"

trof's First Law of Telecommunications: You have to tell me who you are FIRST. IDENTIFY YOURSELF!

[bratcatinok]

12. That ticks me off majorly!

Or when someone calls and says "Who is this?"
My response: "Who are you looking for?"

Don't call me and ask Who is this. You dialed the number so you must know who you were intending to call so ask for me by name!
Major AAARGH!

/rant

[Feanorcurufinwe]

13. I agree 1000%

It is the responsibility of the calling party to identify themselves and the reason for the call. Just because I own a phone does not mean I am under an obligation to talk to anyone who makes it ring.