Remember customer service?

Everything these days is self serve, automated, get in, get out and do it in a hurry! You have a problem? Well call our automated hot line open 24/7 or go on our website and fill out 2000 pages of documents and someone from our corporate office will blah, blah, blah. I think the days of true customer service have long been forgotten, people replaced by machines that don't get tired, don't eat, don't take breaks, and they will work for as long as you want them to.

Now don't get me wrong, I have worked as a CSR before and I am well aware of how stressful it can be, especially if you are dealing with angry customers who are all blaming you for their problems or defective merchandise. It is no fun whatsoever! As I sit here and think about it,  a machine would seem like the logical choice for dealing with these unruly individuals. I know I sure don't want to hear them complaining about this while I have to stand there and take it with a smile on my face. No sir! Let a machine do it.  It wont get mad at the customers, it will listen to their complaints, and it wont run off crying saying "I quit!" Problem solved...I think not.

I'm sure that at some point in your life you have had to deal with some type of automated system. When you did call the company was it to give them a good review? Was it because you were so satisfied with their product you looked up the number, waited on hold listening to the same horrible elevator music for 3 hours while the kids are destroying the house like wild animals just so you can tell them what a phenomenal job they are doing? No you were on the phone because their product failed. Now you have to jump through an endless amount of hoops to hear an automated machine say "I am sorry." "I did not understand your response." "Im sorry, I still didn't get that." or "Im sorry would you like to..." Now for a customer that is already about to blow, putting them on the line with a machine is probably the worst possible thing you want to do.

You don't usually realize how bad the customer service is somewhere until you are the one that needs it, and the times you do need it, you certainly do not want to leave a message, send an email, or repeat yourself to a machine until you are blue in the face. You want to talk to a real, live, breathing, human being. Someone that can actually help you with your problem and give you answers. Companies have gone out of business because they forgot about the most important thing...Serving their customer.

So to the CEOs and stream liners of Corporate America, next time you start thinking about your wallets and not your customers, remember just who puts that money in there.

Now I know that this blog isn't going to change anything. Machines are the new and improved employees of the future. So much so, that since you started reading this, corporations will have replaced 5 humans with 2 machines, 3 customer service reps will have run off crying, and 1 person has probably gone completely crazy trying to get through to a real person.

I just want to say that sometimes trying to stay as cost effective as possible, can ultimately cost you everything. People will always be of better "service" than any machine!