Goodwill offers a four-week training program that provides entry-level workers with the knowledge and experience needed to professionally manage incoming phone calls and succeed in a customer service environment — whether in a call center or working remotely. Participants learn Microsoft and Google applications, clear communication strategies, email and phone etiquette, record entry and documentation and other best practices for customer service.
Terrell answers the phone dozens of times a day at Goodwill’s Nashville Call Center. During those conversations, he is the voice of Goodwill and its mission of changing lives through education, training and employment opportunities. But few would guess that Terrell is also one of the people whose lives have been changed by Goodwill. Terrell, 31, can type on his computer with blazing speed and quickly and courteously provide callers with an amazing array of information. That’s impressive, because the position is his first paying job — one he has held about two years. What’s more impressive, however, is that Terrell — the efficient and knowledgeable phone operator — has never actually seen his computer. Terrell has been blind from birth.
