Apr 15, 2022 12:20:00

Samsung's online sales representative accused of 'being forced to do a complaint handling job for free'

According to an interview with the IT news site The Verge, it was revealed that dispatched workers in charge of selling Samsung smartphones are forced to respond to 'technical inquiries that do not lead to smartphone sales'. ..

Disconnected: Samsung.com sales reps say the system makes them work for free --The Verge

https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/14/23001790/samsung-online-sales-labor-customer-service-contractors-ibbu

This time, Samsung's online sales representative Jennifer Larson, who responded to The Verge's interview, started this work in earnest because of the pandemic of the new coronavirus. Originally, while working as an education assistant, Mr. Larson, who was working on an online sales app created by a dispatching company called ibbü , was in a pandemic and his main business stopped working in online sales. I decided to switch to one job.

Larson's job of selling Samsung smartphones to customers who contact customers via online chat from Samsung's website was initially successful and rewarding. In the case of a smartphone maker other than Samsung, I did not provide information on smartphones and left it to ibbü, but when I became a Samsung salesperson, Samsung executives participated in sales talk training, so Larson He said, 'Oh, I'm a member of Samsung. Samsung is training me for my success.'

However, over time, Larson began to receive more inquiries from 'customers seeking technical help but not willing to buy a new smartphone.' Unlike Apple's

Genius Bar , the salespersons called 'experts' who undertake Samsung's smartphone sales via ibbü are not technical supporters, and their salaries are commission-based and there is no hourly wage. Therefore, even if you respond to the customer instead of the support center, you will not get any reward.

The ibbü side explained that it has instructed experts not to deal with customers seeking technical support, but 12 experts, including Larson, told The Verge, 'Both ibbü and Samsung clearly. We are urging us to provide technical support. ' Moreover, if the customer's inquiries cannot be dealt with well, the salary may drop or, in the worst case, the employee may be dismissed.

Experts are required to have a Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) of 4.3 out of 5 on average customer ratings. However, customers who contact us for technical support from Samsung's website can lead to experts, and if the customer's problem cannot be resolved, the customer will say 'dissatisfied'. It may be given. This means that Larson and his colleagues are forced to do non-monetary work that they wouldn't officially respond to, and they are also at risk of being dismissed.

Expert training materials produced by both ibbü and Samsung stated that 'ibbü chat is for online users who are interested in shopping. If you are chatting about product support, order support, warranty, etc., we will not respond. Please. '

However, The Verge's recording of video calls between Samsung employees and experts shows that Samsung employees call the system for sales chat used by experts a 'hybrid of sales and customer service.' In addition, some experts said, 'I was advised to connect technical support inquiries to sales talks.'

Also, when an expert asked about customer service response, he said, 'I would like to encourage you to continue to respond. Providing excellent customer service will help retain customers and improve the expert's CSAT score. Will also be useful. '

Despite The Verge's repeated requests, Samsung declined to comment on this issue and urged them to contact ibbü. And ibbü said, 'Inquiries from Samsung's website are pre-screened by the chatbot, excluding customer service, etc., and the purchase inquiries are forwarded to the expert. However, they go through the chatbot's filter. In rare cases, customer service-related inquiries are sent, but such inquiries account for less than 2.5% of all chats answered by ibbü experts. '

However, experts, including Larson, say 2.5% is definitely too low. In fact, according to Larson's own tally, 25% of the total was inquiries from the support center. Also, for the past few months, there are even times when only support center work is available.

Larson said of the current situation of being forced to respond to technical support inquiries, 'We are like the front line to protect our customers, but we are educated in how to respond to customers and answer questions. No. Why should I waste your time? '