Kitamura Rika, 35
Telemarketer from Kamioka, Gifu
What do you do?
I work for an English textbook company making telephone sales. The materials, including video and audiotapes, are for children from 0 to 5. The company says that children will have an excellent chance to become fluent--even though the child is not comprehending the English at all. The company video shows young children speaking and singing English. The materials are really expensive--¥360,000 which is paid monthly over five years. Other companies selling similar materials are much more expensive. Sometimes we get a contract based on the fact that the child imitated apple on the promo tape.That’s a really expensive apple, eh?
Yes! The mother was so impressed and excited.But it might be interesting to chat with people, no?
The manual explains exactly how to reply in every situation. If a mother says she can’t afford it, we have a reply. Then, however she replies--for example if she says her husband said the materials are too expensive--we have replies to respond with, suggesting that the husband must waste lots of money on his hobbies, like golf. Isn’t their child’s education more important? Then, a typical customer response is that the husband says golf is for business--and the manual has a response for that.How is the pay?
The base pay is fairly low--¥700 per hour. But the pay goes up with sales. One coworker is amazing. Even though she only works part-time like me, from 10-4, she made over ¥400,000 last month! I think she’ll make even more this month.Where does your company get the telephone numbers?
They buy a list with names and numbers of parents with newborns--but this is always kept secret from customers. My company has a bad reputation. Some slam the receiver after we say our company name. If a father answers we ask for the mother, or cut the conversation.Do you feel like your job is to fool mothers?
From the start I didn’t believe children will become fluent by watching the videos, and I still don’t. But children will develop an interest in English.If that’s the case, couldn’t parents just buy any English video?
That’s what parents sometimes ask. The manual’s response was to note that we offer 12 videos with carefully graded vocabulary. So no, I don’t feel like I’m fooling mothers. There are times when I feel like I’m bothering mothers, like when a baby is crying but I have to continue the conversation.the end
This interview was originally published in Kansai Time Out magazine.