Workers Learn to Deal With Complaints

So you think big corporations don’t listen to you?

Try calling Mobil Oil.

Mobil employees and those of contractors recently attended a special “sensitivity training” workshop to learn how to respond to complaints about construction of the firm’s crude oil pipeline.

You will know Mobil is really listening when the person on the other end of the phone frequently mentions your name during the conversation.

Employees were advised to “get a caller’s name and repeat it a few times so they know you’re listening,” said Mitch Hagelstein, project manager for one of Mobil’s contractors.

But what if the caller is so furious about arriving at work late because of traffic jams along the route that he doesn’t respond to that technique?

“You just have to attempt to calm the person and explain why we’re out there,” Hagelstein said.

To learn how to listen without losing their cool, Mobil employees practiced taking mock phone calls from fellow employees pretending to be irate residents and merchants.

“I expected to be bored out of my mind, but it was rather interesting,” Hagelstein said.

Employees will check into every complaint, unless they determine that the caller is “the type who just likes to bug people,” Hagelstein said.

“We don’t want the public mad at us,” he said. “But you can’t please everybody.”