A Rant and a Recommendation...

Today I not only have something I want to rant about, I also have a recommendation for a book that I'm reading that I think could be enormously helpful for anyone who's looking to change jobs or careers, whether you work from home or not.

First the rant... My name is not Sarah or Veronica, it is Erica.

Most of you here know that, simply because you've seen my name on my blog.  But it never fails to amaze me how many of the people I talk to (both insurance agents and proposed insureds) call me Sarah, Veronica, or some other name ending an an "a,"  even when I try to say my greeting as clearly as I can.  I understand, a lot of the people may have bad phone connections because they're on cell phones, or they can't hear well, or whatever... and some people do hear my name right, or they'll ask me what my name is if they're not sure they heard it right.  I'm not the only one who's had this happen to them either - a lot of other people at the company I work for have also had this happen to them. 

The moral of this story is, if you're  not sure you heard a person's name right, double check it with them. 

Now for the recommendation - I'm currently reading a Kindle book called "The Resume Is Dead" - I was able to download it from Amazon for free, unfortunately now the price has gone up to 2.99. Regardless though, I think even from the little bit of it that I've read, that it will be enormously helpful as I continue to try to figure out what I want to do with my life.  Once I've finished it, I'll probably publish a more thorough review of it on Hubpages, but in the meantime if you want to check it out now, you can search for it on Amazon.com

Everyone have a great Sunday!

Bonus Rant - Know Your Products

Ok, I have a second rant for you today - this one has to do with the importance of knowing about the products or services you provide. When you work from home, especially when you work as an independent contractor, it's important that you know about the products or services you provide - to some of you this probably seems basic, I know it does to me - but you'd be surprised the  number of agents I talk to who don't know what insurance product they're submitting an application for for their client.  I could unerstand if it was the applicant calling in, but the agent should know what product their applicant is applying for - so if you work in sales or even in customer service, be sure to do your research on the products or services you provide so you can serve your customers better!

Rant - Why It's Important to Take Note of File Numbers or Case Numbers

It's been a while since I published a post - haven't had much to rant about, plus I've been extremely busy.   However, a situation that I went through yesterday did give me another good rant - today's rant is about the importance of taking note of file numbers or case numbers.

Whenever you call a customer service department of a company, or any place else where you may have to call back at a later time, your call is assigned a file number or case number - different companies have different names for the numbers that are assigned.  It is very important to take note of these numbers, because if you have to call back, it's much easier for the next person to pull up your information if you have the file number or case number that you were given previously.  Of course, most companies know that people are not always going to take note of these numbers, they can also usually pull up your information by your last name or by using other information such as your Social Security number, date or birth, or other information - however if you have a common last name, it may be difficult for the representative to find your information, so please be sure to take note of the number that's provided to you.

Working from home is not a scam!

I read a post on the Allstayathome blog that really ticked me off ... it was about how misinformed a lot of people still are about working from home, even though blogs like Allstayathome, as well as the other blogs I have listed on this site, provide information about legitimate work from home opportunities.  Working from home is a reality, people, not a scam.  Yes, there are work at home scams out there - that's why it's important to do your homework when you're considering a work at home opportunity.  For more information on this topic, check out the post on Allstayathome.

What do you have to rant about?

As you can all tell, I haven't had anything to rant about lately, which is good, but unfortunately it means I also haven't had any updates for this blog.. LOL.  So for right now I'm doing an open post that I hope will generate some ideas for me... what work from home related issues do you have to rant about?

Be courteous to the people you talk to

This is something else that seems basic to me... be courteous when talking to people on the phone, especially when you're applying for a product or service.  When I talk about being courteous, I'm not just talking about watching your language, either - I've actually had instances where I've been on the phone with someone and they've asked me to hold on while they take another call.  I know people don't like to wait forever to talk to someone - neither do I - but remember when you call someone to order a product or service, there are often other people waiting on hold, so unless you absolutely have to take a call, please ask the person that's calling you if you can call them back in a few minutes.  It will make things go much faster for both you and the person you're talking to.

Be prepared!

To me, this is basic - something we should have learned in school.  Being prepared is so important, especially if you're calling to order something, or to put in an application for something.  Places that take phone orders or applications are often swamped, so it's very important that you have the information they need.  Obviously things like your name, address and phone number are easy - but depending on what you're ordering or applying for, you may need to provide your social security number or credit card information, so if you don't know that information off the top of your head, be sure you've got it ready when you call.

Rant - When You Say You're Going to do Something, Do it!

I recently got a call from an agent complaining because he'd put in a request for an applicant to be called - the interviewer who took the request said that the applicant would be called right away - however the agent called back later to say that the applicant hadn't been called and it had been 30 minutes since the request was put in.  The interviewer should have called the applicant right away if they needed to be called right away, or else told a supervisor that the applicant needed to be called right away if they weren't able to call the applicant right away.  If the interviewer was unable to do either of these things, they should not have told the agent that they would be called right away.   Not following through on something like this can hurt a company's reputation, so when you say you're going to do something, or that something will be done right away, be sure to follow through.

My First Rant - Wait Until I'm Finished Talking Before You Respond!!!

This is one of my number one pet peeves... in my line of work, I ask a lot of very long questions, and often the people I'm interviewing will interrupt with the answer before I've finished reading the question. Of course, I still have to read the question in full because the calls are recorded.  Some insurance agents are good about asking their clients to wait until I've finished asking the question before they respond, but most aren't.  But beyond that, waiting until someone is finished speaking before you talk is just basic good manners... people get a clue!!!

My first post....

Good morning everyone... if you haven't guessed by the title, I work from home - I have worked from home for different companies for about 9 years now, and one thing I've learned about working from home is that while it has a lot of benefits, working from home can still be stressful at times.  So I created this blog so I can rant occasionally about the work from home related stress in my life - maybe you'll be able to relate, or maybe you'll have some advice.  Either way, I'm hoping you'll also benefit from this blog.