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June 20, 2004 I work in an inbound call center selling insurance for a nationwide company. I am a licensed professional with nearly four years of experience at my current job. You would think that I, along with the other 150 or so employees in our center, could expect to be treated like adults. Think again. Welcome to working in the corporate world. We received a memo from our supervisors late last week informing us that there would no longer be conversation between agents while on the floor, even if things were slow, which they often are. It is not unusual during the course of a day, to go twenty to thirty minutes without getting a call at all. The result is often some very interesting conversations between us agents. This might not be so bad, if it weren’t for the fact that they’ve already banned magazines and books from our desks. If things are slow, we are expected to read over corporate communications and the company website. That’s it. Since nobody’s perfect and even the best agents make mistakes, if we spend all of our free time studying, we will all become perfect agents. Now, we can’t even sit at our cubicles during breaks or lunch. This could possibly lead to, gasp, talking. So we must either stay in the designated break room or leave the building altogether. This is how licensed, professional sales agents are treated. This is the second corporation I’ve worked for, and although there are differences between each, this type of behavior is pretty much par for the course. In fact, from talking to other people who’ve worked for corporations, they are all pretty much the same. They treat their employees as cattle, view their customers like idiots, and try to make as much money as possible while spending as little as possible. In my first article, I wrote about how I felt you and I, the common people in America, had ruined America. Well, we didn’t do it alone. We’ve had a great big helping hand in screwing up our great country, and corporate America has been that helping hand. They have corrupted our lifestyles, manipulated our viewpoints and taken advantage of us in every way they can. The sad thing is, we let them do, without even realizing what we were doing. Like I said, I work in insurance, auto insurance to be exact. It doesn’t really matter with company it is, it’s a big one that many, if not all of you have heard of. Think about it for a second. In every auto insurance commercial you’ve ever seen or heard, what is the message. If bad things happen to you, don’t worry, we’re here to put you back on your feet! We’re you’re friend! Now let me tell you what goes on behind the scenes. Agents are taught to try and scare or guilty customers into buying the most expensive coverages, even if it’s not what they currently have or really need. Corporate policies are made to increase profits, not to insure better service for their customers. Customers are often cancelled without ever being informed that their policies are in danger, thus resulting in lapses that cause premiums to double, regardless of what company you go to. And if you do need them to put you back on your feet, they will respond by either raising your rates or canceling you altogether. This is the kind, caring insurance company you pay your hard earned money to every month, like it or not. They want you to pay it every month, but they certainly don’t want to write out a check to you when something happens. It cuts into their profit margin, making it harder for the corporate CEO to afford that vacation home in Aspen he’s been eyeing. As corporations continue to force small, mom-and-pop business or regional chains into submission, this gets worse and worse. They quality level of their products are often sub par because they cut corners with materials and production times. They are hard to work with because they feel their customers will lose patience and quit trying, just accepting whatever is handed to them. It’s not better working for them either. A recent corporate representative sat in with one of our sales agents to see what we do every day. At the end of the session, he quietly admitted to her that we were underpaid, very underpaid. Can we expect this suit to go back to corporate headquarters and campaign for higher wages? Yeah, right. Right after he donates his entire life savings to starving orphans in Africa. We do get raises every year, which, if we’re lucky, will cover the increases in the cost of our health insurance every year. The health benefits are good, they should be, especially for an insurance company, but opportunities for advancement are rare and the politics are bad. Favoritism is not only supported but usually not very well disguised. Then, they treat us like chimps in a circus, expected to perform for whatever peanuts they throw our way. Another reason corporations are ruining America is because they are often mismanaged. The people who run my company, for the most part, have never even worked in insurance. They graduated college with a business degree, immediately got hired into a mid-management job and have worked their way up the ladder. They know all there is to know about financial statements and stock reports, but they know little, if anything, about the ins and outs of insurance themselves. Not only do they not know how the industry works, but they often won‘t listen to those who do. It‘s not about running the business correctly after all, it‘s the bottom line. Dollars and cents.. My company was a life saver when I was out of work, and I have taken ample advantage of their health care. However, a couple of good things cannot overshadow the bad. I hate the way they treat their customers and their employees. I know it’s not limited to my company, they couldn’t come up with an original idea. It is the same throughout our industry and I’m sure throughout the corporate landscape of our country. Personally, I think the government needs to go back and look at our monopoly laws again. We don’t have one company controlling an entire industry anymore, we have five, but to me, that is just as bad. It is increasingly harder for upstart companies to compete with the power and resources of established corporations, limited opportunities for workers and customers alike. These big corporations need to be broken up so that the playing field will again be leveled. Then, maybe we can be treated like adults again. Finally, some of you may have read my article last week on my return to softball after a ten year absence. Well, I don’t want to leave anyone hanging, so here’s what happened. We played just two games, winning one and losing one, while thunderstorms swirled all around us but never came. I hit well, reaching base all but once, and didn’t embarrass myself in the field. My dad wasn’t as pleased with his performance, but the fact is, we got out there and did it. It was a blast, even with the bad weather. Of course, I was sore as heck before I even got the car, and I’ve been hobbling around like an old man all weekend. I have places hurting right now that I didn’t even know I had. Still, I had fun and I only hope it’s not another ten years before I do it again. ------------ About the author: I live in Amarillo, TX, with my wife, two children, three dogs and a mean little bird. I'm currently recouperating from my softball tournament and hating the guy in El Paso who won the $145 million jackpot in the lottery last night. See ya next week! Email: donnyhunt77@hotmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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