From King to supplicant

In the parade of progress, stationary telephone systems were not left behind. During the 1990s, the cornucopia of technical advancement was spilled over all of us. A gentle voice, conducted by a technology-driven, cost-cutting management, usually starts with the heartwarming affirmation, “Your call is important to us. Please hold while we ignore it.”

That is, of course, only overture.

“To listen to our 112 menu items press 1. for the latest running total of the numbers of customers who say they would rather than do business with us again, press 2. for someone who is very nice person but doesn’t have a clue, and in any case is on maternity leave, press 3.”

After 11 minutes and 33 second, the finale comes in a crescendo: “The person you are trying to reach is either on the other line or not in the office. Please try later.”

That rips it.

The companies call the customer king and treat him worse than a supplicant. I say get rid of voice answering systems immediately. They are offending customers and putting them in telephone hell. Replace those machines with friendly high-touch operators. The corporations will see where the real cost efficiencies can be made.

I urge any CEO whose company has a voice answering system to call his company and see whether he can get through it himself. That eye-opening exercise would hopefully trigger great entrepreneurial opportunities to create a useful customer service system tht doesn’t turn into an infuriating maze with no exit.

Again, we have to think more about the ecology of technology. ~ Page 105