Think about the last time you had to call a customer service phone number and tried to talk to an actual human being. Were you successful? Odds are you had to navigate a convoluted menu system by punching numbers on your phone. If you were lucky, you got to “speak” to the computer and tell them what you wanted. It always seems the computer doesn’t understand what I’m saying…
Press 0
There has been lots of backlash against companies that are hiding behind these unfriendly phone trees. Citi’s Simplicity credit card commercials poke fun at phone trees and offer their customers a simple way to talk to a person: press 0.
Shortcuts
I discovered a wonderful listing of phone tree shortcuts at gethuman.com a while back. I have used it multiple times to successfully get through to a real person on the phone.
If your company is in the gethuman.com database and it doesn’t say “Direct to human” or “Press 0,” you may need to rethink your commitment to customer service.
Realize that customers are helping others defeat your obstructive systems to make contact. Wouldn’t it just be better to open the door and let customers easily reach you?
Worth the Cost
You may have to hire a few more call center employees but the focus on customer-friendly communication will be a strong selling point for your products and services.
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Jennifer Clark
April 10, 2006
Having dabbled in the telecommunications industry for a couple of years, I can tell you exactly WHY companies hide behind the phone tree and it has a lot to do with the bottom line. But your point is well taken…if you want to be a customer-centered company, let people get through to your reps.
It also made me think about Citi’s thing…just dial ’0′. Is that just in case they have customers who LIKE to go through the phone tree and options? If you can just dial ’0′ why can’t you just have a human pick up at the other end?
Joe Rawlinson
April 11, 2006
I think a direct line to a human may be too manual of a process on the company’s side. A balance has to be drawn between automating certain tasks while still allowing easy access to a real person when needed.