Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thursday isn't my day!

I work as QA Analyst/Sales Verifier in one of the call centers here in Manila. I started as QA Analyst in a technical account but after 6 months I was transferred to a financial account. We handle one of the credit cards in the US and our agents are also based in the US. The agents offer different programs of the banks to the card holder. All the calls are recorded and we listen to all of them to avoid cases of fraud. Fraud done by the agents they also call it slamming. There are certain guidelines from the client that have to be followed. If the agent did not follow it strictly it will be kicked back and will be considered to be invalid sale. Basically we audit the calls of the agents and there is also a spotchecker who audits the QA Analysts verified calls.

One of the calls I verified yesterday was a good sale. During the presentation of the program there was no negative reaction from the customer. Even during the enrollment question and billing question (BQ) the customer answered an affirmative yes. Due to high call volume when the customer answered yes after the billing question I disposed the call. I did not wait for the agent to finish his closing spiel.

Unfortunately when the call was about to end after the agent finished the closing spiel the customer changed his mind. He refused to the offer but the agent still processed it as good sale. It was the time that I no longer have the call. Our spotchecker got it and report it to the manager. Poor me, for that case I will be suspended for 5 days. I was really confident that it was a good sale knowing that the customer immediately agreed to enroll. The lesson we learned in our team was to listen to the entire call.

To work in a financial account is really risky. Especially that from previous years United States had so many cases of fraud and identity theft. Identity theft is stealing someone's identity like personal data, social security number, bank accounts or credit card number to personally profit at his expense. It takes years and big amount of money to restore a reputation in the community and erroneous information.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Benefits of Whole Grains in our Kid's Health

Some parents are having problems with their children's eating habit. We can seldom encounter kids that enjoy eating fruits and vegetable. Kids now love to go to their favorite fast food chain or can easily buy junk foods from any convenience store. TV ads influences us so much.

I've read that whole grains have been found to be nutritionally superior in giving health benefits than refined grain. Cereals, bread, pasta contain all the healthy parts of the grain. There are also snacks that are made of whole grains which can easily be found in our favorite supermarket.

Whole grains contain all three important parts of a grain: Bran - which is rich in fiber, B vitamins, iron, zinc,copper and phytonutrients. Germ - which is rich in vitamin E, B vitamins, antioxidants, and essential fats. Endosperm - which offers carbohydrates, protein and small amounts of B vitamins.

Whole grains provide energy to support kid's growth and activities, promotes healthy digestive functions. Fiber helps clean the digestive tract to prevent constipation, promotes regular bowel movement and keep digestive tract in tiptop shape. Whole grains also encourage healthy dietary habits, by incorporating whole grains into our kid's diet at an early age we establish good lifelong dietary habits in our child.