Today’s blog post was written by Call Center Supervisors Andrew Phillips and Nathan Smith.
The Signature Worldwide shopping team is a melting pot of many different people spanning across a wide variety of ages, backgrounds, and geographical locations. Most of our clients get to interact with shoppers on a daily basis, but they only get to hear the persona that the shopper has prepared. In order to give everyone a glimpse of the individual behind the phone we sat down with one of our veteran shoppers to ask him a few questions.
~Bob Neumeier~
How long have you been at Signature Worldwide?
“I started back in 2006, so nine years now.”
Here in the shopping department we currently have about 150 years of cumulative shopping experience. We have new hires who have worked here for as little as one week and seasoned veterans who have been with the company for over 15 years.
What did you do before working at Signature Worldwide? Do you feel that any of those skills carried over?
“I was in computer graphics and also owned my own business. The skills most definitely carried over! Being creative also helps for sure.”
Have you ever listened to a shop call where the shopper seemed to know a lot about computer graphics, construction, or even say, taxidermy? We encourage shoppers to draw upon past experiences to provide a unique, realistic shop call experience.
What would you say is the most important thing about being a shopper?
“Being able to deliver a realistic call to the point you are able to surprise the person you are calling when they hear it is a shop call.”
Shop calls are intended to be a training resource, but authenticity is equally as important. Our new scenario system provides a new scenario for each shopper and allows for scenarios that are specific to the location. They can be updated in real time too!
What is your greatest challenge as a shopper?
“Researching the proper information for each call can be difficult because you always have to balance quality and productivity.”
Did you know that shoppers have quality and productivity measures that they are required to achieve? Shoppers must have a ‘shopper error’ percentage below 1%. That’s one error per one hundred calls!
What is your proudest moment here at Signature Worldwide?
“Receiving our Legendary Tickets for my work and just being part of our Signature family.”
Ticket to Legendary is Signature Worldwide’s peer to peer recognition program! Every time a call center employee does the right thing, takes pride in their work, makes something really fun, passes their knowledge on, or are simply legendary…they receive a ticket for embodying the company’s core values.
Do you have a favorite hobby?
“I still like creating different drawings and designs on the computer and I enjoy playing golf although I’m not very good at it.”
A shopper’s ‘hole in one’ is knowing that a client thought they were a legitimate customer. Our shoppers take great pride in the work they do.
What is your favorite movie? What if you could be a celebrity, who would you be?
“My favorite movie is 6 Days 7 Nights with Harrison Ford and Anne Heche.
I would definitely be Michael Keaton. I really enjoy watching his movies!!”
Being a shopper is a lot like acting. You get to look at a loose script and fill in the blanks with your imagination! You bring your own spin and background to the production and improvise when needed. Tone and engagement are extremely important; a movie would be pretty boring if it were in monotone with no plot!
Do you have any tips for new shoppers?
“If you can, draw from your personal experiences. It will help to make the shop calls more realistic when possible.”
No two people are the same, so no two shop calls are the same!