I used to love my job. I always had fun with my customers, and the company encouraged you to build rapport, said Janet Brinson of Falls Church, Va., who s been a service consultant since 1966 and recently returned from a doctor-ordered medical leave for stress and anxiety. Now it s just sell, sell, sell. You re constantly monitored and if you don t say or do certain things on every phone call, you re subject to discipline. The calls come so fast that Summerlyn said she d go two or three hours without being able to take a swig of water from a bottle at her work station.
Some employees fear taking the time to go to the bathroom.
Teams of supervisors never take their eyes or ears off of representatives. They listen in on calls and nitpick the conversations afterwards. Even employees who are especially polite and helpful risk a reprimand if they talk too long or fail to try to sell Bell Atlantic s other products and services. That s priority one. No matter how hurried or harried a customer is, the employee has to make a sales pitch.