How They Did It

Telemarketing:
Phone Salesman

PROBLEM: The Merrymakers Music Company of Sheboygan hires part-time help during its busiest season, when it's advertising holiday CDs on television and needs extra customer service reps to handle the increased call-in orders. Retiree Mark Simone, an experienced salesman, likes the work--he's done it to earn a little extra holiday money for several years now--but he's finding it increasingly difficult to understand customers on the phone

BACKGROUND: Although Mark, 60, has some hearing loss, he does not wear hearing aids. At home, he finds no problems in communicating but it's a different story in the workplace, where he must talk on the phone in the midst of a large, noisy room with 29 other people also answering phones.

SOLUTION: To help Mark isolate sound and provide a visual barrier, his supervisor found a few surplus panels at an office next door and moved them in to the "bullpen" to serve as dividers around Mark's space. In addition, the company purchased a high-quality headset that allows sound to come into both ears ($200). The headset includes a volume control, which Mark finds useful.

Mark obtained a book from SHHH that explains communication strategies that can be used on the phone. (He found out about SHHH--Self-Help for the Hard of Hearing--from a friend.) Now when Mark doesn't understand what a customer said, he doesn't just ask, "What?" Instead, he repeats what he understood and asks specific questions to clarify what he wants to know.

Also, whenever his supervisor wants to talk with Mark, she taps him on the shoulder and waits for him to turn around.

This is the third year Mark has worked during the holiday promotional period. The company appreciates having an experienced salesperson--and Mark is glad to be in an environment that understands his hearing access and communication access needs.