If my call is really important to you,

have a live person answer the phone

Sometimes investing in the right automated phone systems is good business. But investing in systems that tick people off is dumb.

Customers and prospects are such precious things, why install a system that frustrates or angers them? Other than warning you that “this call may be monitored for better service” have you ever been asked what you think of the program?

Yes, I know such systems save money. One vendor of a voice recognition system says live calls (i.e. real people) costs from $2.50 to $8.50 each. They say they can save their clients 50% to 75% of that cost. But is this key touch point the place to save money? I don’t think so.

Most folks can handle a short and sweet menu without blowing their cool. But many automated programs are guilty of overkill, and it’s the caller who gets killed.

Okay, on repeat calls once they’re familiar with the drill and know when to punch the appropriate key, it’s not so bad. But on that first call they may have to listen to the whole menu at least once and then most of it again so they don’t miss the right key.

I am all for automation when it doesn’t separate you from your customers. But don’t turn your business into a vending machine. You can’t establish a relationship and start a dialogue with a machine.

Henry Ford said, “If there is any one secret of success it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from his angle as well as your own.”

Automated phone service is COMPANY- centric thinking.
CUSTOMER-centric thinking is the way
to win friends and influence people.

One of the many reasons I love L.L. Bean is that they usually have enough people on hand so a live person answers by the fourth ring. And they’re not wasting resources. When the phones aren’t ringing the service people don’t just sit around. They have other duties.

The point is, callers shouldn’t have to do The Dance of the Seven Veils before the system rewards them with a talking head---a talking head with answers.

Everything that saves money is not justified. In a market where getting another touch point is a challenge, why put on a girdle? Next to belly-to-belly selling, great phone operators are great assets. Wouldn’t it be nice to let them start doing their job by the fourth ring rather than waiting to greet callers already seething from a system that doesn’t feel their pain?

If you need a rationale for more operators, charge it off to customer retention or relationship management. That’s a very good investment.