When was the last time you called your company through the general phone number? Were you surprised by the experience?
Nowadays, many companies use an automated system to handle customer calls, holding them until a representative is available. Do you like the music people have to listen to on hold? If you don’t, why do you think your customers will?
A pet peeve of mine is the message that goes off every 30 seconds, telling you that your call is important. Does management realize that if you have a five minute wait, you get to hear that message 10 times? I don’t think there’s anything I want to hear 10 times in short amount of time.
The people who answer the phones may also be open for criticism. Many have a script where you say something like, “How may I help you?” That’s a good customer service message but it may have been repeated so many times that it’s lost any meaning. If there’s no feeling behind the greeting, what kind of message is being sent out?
Companies spend a lot of money trying to get people to call them. Perhaps more time should be spent making sure they’ll call back.
Call your company, make changes to maximize your customer interaction, and make sure your team believes in what they’re saying.
