Before I start this blog let me give you first a brief discussion about a call center that focuses on what kind of job it is and how it benefits the people who are working on this job or what we knew as call center agents, also, what is the importance of it to the people who needs this kind of service.
A call center agent is someone who works for a company or organization that handles incoming and outgoing phone calls, account queries, and customer complaints or support issues. Call center agents, on the other hand, can play a variety of vital responsibilities for a company, including providing customer support or selling items, verifying customer eligibility for programs, updating valuable business intelligence, and quality benchmarking. Call centers can be proactive (outbound) or reactive (inbound) in customer service, which means they can reach out to customers with service offers as well as provide traditional assistance and answer incoming calls. Work-from-home, inbound, and outbound call centers are the three types of call centers.
I’ve given you a brief overview of what a call center is. Now I’m about to tell you the story of a homeless man who became a call center agent. This blog may be of assistance to you if you are looking for motivation and inspiration to work in customer service.
DANILO MACABABBAD
He was just 17 years old when his father passed away due to complications of diabetes. Danilo’s mother worked hard by selling food to send him to school when he was a good student at Universidad de Manila in the Philippines, taking the course of Education majoring in PE and Sports. However, after a long day of work, his mother took a bath and soon collapsed while they were in the Jeepney terminal. She was taken to the hospital as she should have been and stayed in the ICU, but she died soon after. Danilo stated he didn’t get a chance to apologize to his mother for everything he had done to her before she died. After his both parents passed away, Danilo ended his 2 years in college and was forced to quit school as he had no money to pay for tuition and don’t have someone who can provide for him. Sooner, he left their house because he can’t any longer pay for the rent and just like other orphans who didn’t have relatives to take them in, after a few months, Danilo found himself alone in the streets, with just the bag that contains his old clothes and some toiletries.
As the street became his new home, Danilo felt like it was a hardship. He doesn’t know how to live in the street, where to stay, and don’t know if he can survive for a day, and the threat that there is a possibility that one day he will no longer be living and will be found dead in the cold street. Danilo chooses to continue his life, and do small things just to live. The first thing he did was beg for money, one to five pesos will be enough for him just to buy chips or food that he can eat to survive or he will just ask around for food. At that time, he once thought to be just a thief to make his life better in just a snap but he can’t. He realized that instead of learning his dreams in his life he will just be put in jail. Danilo sometimes sleeps outside or in front of establishments like a mall. When the mall opened, there was where he will wash his face and there was one time when he was walking without a particular place to go, Danilo was offered by a headhunter for a job. To earn money, he started collecting old newspapers to sell in junk shops. The money he earned was too small and the job was hard, he even experiences some situations such as people are making space when he is near because of his own bad odor. But on the days when his only job makes it too difficult for him where he can’t find old newspapers and recycled materials to sell, he went to the companies that offer free food for street kids just so he could at least eat. For four years, Danilo’s life was like that.
He grew older and he knew that living on the streets would continue to be difficult that’s why the thought of finding a job comes up to his mind. It wasn’t easy for everyone in the Philippines to find a job, especially for those who can’t study in college to have a degree just like Danilo who just finished two years of taking a course but then, Danilo was motivated to find a job until he decided to apply to call center. While he was on his way to apply, Danilo overthinks about how they will accept him if he wears old clothes, smells bad, and will his interviewer manage to talk with him, will they accept him? All of it disappeared when he passed the test and the interview where the recruiters were surprised by his communication skills and found his determination to get himself to a better place. Danilo said to himself that he shouldn’t doubt, if you know your strength, your ability, talents, and skills, you can use that to do anything.
As soon as his co-workers learned about his story, they give him clothes and some things to use. Danilo’s co-workers also helped him to find a place where he can finally stay comfortably. He is now earning enough for him to sustain his own needs. The good thing was, Danilo never forgets his all experience in street, he knew what life he has when he is in his downfall that’s why he shares some of his food with homeless people he encounters on the street. He thanked his job and the people who helped him for giving him a second chance, he said that he will take that opportunity to achieve his dreams and he will pursue everything for to better.
It was a heartfelt and inspiring story for all of us, we struggled and faced a lot of problems but we should know that there will be always someone who suffered more. If you are an aspiring call center agent or you want to apply for a customer service job, I hope that this story inspires you to pursue your dreams and provide exceptional service to your customers.
If you want to watch the documentation of Danilo Macababbad’s story as a street dweller to a call center agent, you can go to this link: https://youtu.be/QgzE_pR0TcI
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