Is Time Really Money: The Lost Art of Customer Service

            The art of customer service has changed since the advancement of technology.  People are led to follow computer prompts to resolve their issues or utilize website to submit complaints and ask questions.  What has this done to our society?  Many individuals would like to have that personal conversation because they want to be heard or vent about their issue.  Well, the only way that takes place is when a live person answers the phone.  Working in the customer service industry has allowed me to understand several aspects to technology in corporate America and time being money. 

The first, technology has turned us into the “microwave” society, the “I want it now” society.  There is a problem with that….there is something called process and time.  There are processes and procedures, in which a customer service representative must follow that is established by the corporation to ensure your issue is resolved.  Do we always agree with these processes and procedures? No. However, they are in place to establish smooth operation of the corporation.    

The second, corporation establish agreements with the surrounding communities to have your calls answered within a specific amount of time.  How and why is this agreement established?  The establishment of this agreement is based on the fact that there are additional resources individuals will utilize to have their issues resolves, such as the corporate website.  Therefore, allowing customers to rely on self-help options, eliminating the amount of calls coming into a call center to be handled by call center representatives to resolve issues. 

The third, is time really money? With the push for production, call center representatives must answer you calls and resolve your issue within a specific amount of time.  If this time is not met within the guidelines of the corporation, the corporation receives fines.  Now you may ask why? Well…this is what you asked for.  Society has asked for faster service and corporations have complied with your request.  However, the more calls answered within a specific amount of time, the more money the corporation spends.  Yes, spends.  It cost corporations for a customer to call into their operation for resolution of issues.  There is the cost of the automated system to operate, the representative that answers your call, the computer system utilized, the building utilized, the technician that may have to come to your home and this is just a fraction of the individuals behind the scenes to ensure whatever service you have or receive is optimal. 

My final thoughts conclude there are customer service representatives working in this industry who want to provide you with exceptional services.  Their conflict arises due to the demands of corporation to answer the calls effectively and efficiently, along with the human factor of having feelings and wanting to ensure that the customers’ issues are resolve.  Human beings think and thinking is not a part of the customer service process.  That is why you find yourself talking to customer service representative overseas that follow a scrip and have no concern about you venting, spending 10 minutes explaining your problem, or repeating yourself 10 times. 

Therefore Society, my question to you remains…Is time really money?  Do you want to receive that great customer service of the past or are you willing to except the changes technology has brought to you in the area of customer service?  If the answer is no to any of these questions, then I advise to rethink and analyze the demands you have made on corporate America to have your service problems answered and resolved right now in the snap of a finger.  Yes, you do pay for a service and expect it to work or receive a quality product. However, the faster you receive the less quality you receive. Quantity does not equal quality in customer service.