Sujet AD1998

Durée : 3 heures

Coefficient : 2

Dictionnaire bilingue autorisé.

L'usage de la calculatrice est interdit.

The incidence of customers losing their tempers over the telephone is on the increase. Des Dearlove reports.

"Telephone rage" is on the increase in the UK, according to a report published last week. The findings, which are based on a survey of employees in more than 500 organisations, show that employees who answer telephone calls are much more likely to be subjected to verbal abuse than in the past.

Nearly two-thirds of all those who responded to the survey, carried out by the recruitment company Reed Employment Services, said that the number of outbursts from customers and other telephone contacts has risen over the past five years.

There are a number of possible explanations for the increase. One is simply that the volume of calls has increased substantially in recent years. BT estimates that the rise is from about 80 million calls a day five years ago to more than 100 million calls a day now.

At the same time, the advent of new services, including telephone banking and insurance, and the growth in home shopping - both through traditional mail order and direct selling - means that many more transactions are now carried out over the telephone.

The special characteristics of telephone communication also appear to antagonise customers. Psychologists say that people are much more likely to fly off the handle on the telephone than at face-to-face meetings.

This is borne out by the survey, which found that 65 per cent of those asked said they were more likely to express anger over the phone, compared to 26 per cent by writing and only 9 per cent face-to-face. Respondents also indicated that certain things can trigger telephone rage.

An insincere tone of voice when the person at the other end of the line sounds inattentive or unconcerned - tops the list of most infuriating telephone experiences. People are also more likely to see red when they are kept waiting, are transferred to voice-mail or passed onto someone else.

So what can companies do to prevent customers going off the deep end? Direct Line, which revolutionized the insurance business through telephone selling, trains all members of its staff how to deal with aggrieved customers. Adrian Webb, the company's press officer, believes there are two distinct categories of telephone rage.

"Where someone has a genuine concern, then it doesn't matter how quickly you respond, they're still going to let you know about it," he says. "Where a customer is upset or angry, it's important that you let them have their say, and then politely try to address the issues. We train staff to listen and to handle complaints in a way thay won't escalate the situation.

"The other category involves incidents that arise because customers are kept waiting, are transeferred from one person to another, or put on hold. In these cases prevention is the best cure."

Properly used, he says, technology can greatly reduce the second category of incidents by ensuring calls are answered promptly. "We have one of the most sophisticated call-handling systems in the country. If an operator isn't free in one office, the call is instantly transferred to any one of our five other offices. Most calls are answered within three seconds."

Mike Norman, head of training for Reed Employment Sevices, says that the company provides all employees - from directors down - with training in telephone techniques. "With complaints, we train staff to try to engineer a second phone call, offering to call them back in 15 minutes. This gives the customer time to calm down while the person taking the call investigates the problem. It's very difficult to stay angry with someone who is clearly trying to help," he says.

In the end, however, "telephone rage" is best handled at source. Customers who expect professional conduct from their suppliers should discuss complaints in an equally professional manner. So the next time you feel your blood starting to boil, don't take it out on the person at the other end of the phone, try counting from one to ten - or write to the chairman.

Rédigez en anglais un résumé (pas plus de 150 mots) de l'article du Times.

Traduire en français le dernier paragraphe de "In the end ..." à ".... write to the chairman."

Vous êtes secrétaire dans une entreprise française (Régals d'Ailleurs, 6 rue de Bretagne, 59000 Lille). Le directeur des achats, Thomas BLANCHIN, a récemment passé une commande auprès d'un fournisseur britannique (Srup Plus, 6 Cauldron Lane, Whitney, Hertfordshire WH5 8GH).

Malgré ses appels téléphoniques répétés, un problème n'a pu être résolu en temps voulu et M. BLANCHIN, fort mécontent, décide d'envoyer une lettre. Il vous demande de la rédiger :