21st Century Sales

This week, two new call center agents joined the team. Welcome Alicia and Angela!

One of the first things we chatted about was their names. You see, most professional call center agents don't use their real names. I thought this was a bit odd when I first hired an offshore call center agent several years ago, but I shrugged it off. We were too busy training for me to pause and ask.

This week I took the time to ask. "What do you call the name you use when you are working?" I asked. The answers I got back included: screen name, pseudoname, stage name and call center name.

All are women, so my assumption was that they didn't want any creepy guys they called while at work to be able to track them down after work. Not necessarily so, as male agents I've worked with also use a different name while on the job.

I found their answer was quite interesting. "It helps us address the stress we endure while on the job," Vhanessa offered. When Vhanessa leaves the office, she leaves Vhanessa and everything that Vhanessa represents at the office. Sort of like taking a cleansing shower to remove all of the stresses of her shift, she steps outside into her "real" life completely rejuvenated as Anna Marie.

When Rosilyn arrives at the office, she says "goodbye" to Rosilyn and adopts her professional self, or Angela. According to Alicia, "It helps us focus on the role we are playing while on the job."

What a great idea! Now...what's my name going to be while I'm on the job?