The reality in today’s world is that the term customer service is often the last thing an enquirer receives currently when contacting a business or a government department and their bureaucracies.
Too often, the enquirer is greeted with a recording message saying that their contact is valued and they will be attended to shortly. Alternatively, the caller is asked to press a series of buttons so they can be attended to by the appropriate employee. Unfortunately, if that person is not available, then they can go back to the website and are told to liaise with the organisation’s ChatGPT service. To add insult to injury this usually ends up again with the answers received that are completely Impractical or incomplete.
Unfortunately, the frustrations continue,
- as often the person answering the call is unavailable, or
- you are lost in the queue of callers, and whilst waiting you are later advised you went from caller “5 to 10”, etc., or
- you have reached the wrong employee, or
- it is now after regular hours and the responsible people have left for the day, which means you are advised to call back tomorrow in business hours, or go back to the website for an answer, or
- with the option of leaving a message which never seems to be answered, or
- the employee cannot speak properly in easily understood English, and worse still
- is still unable to answer your enquiry because they lacked adequate training, etc.
Worse still is if the reason for the contact, was caused by your own organisation’s deficiencies or actions.
Is it any wonder then, that an enquirer becomes upset! Consequently, perhaps the enquirer says the wrong thing and is promptly cut off. Now I am not condoning the enquirers’ attitude and actions, however you can see their point of view and frustration with your lack of “customer service.”
The damage to your organisation can be a list of complaints, many of which will be advised on an internet website or listing, a loss of a sale or a customer. In either case, a sale or the customer ends up with your competitor, or an invoice remains unpaid. If these outcomes occur often enough, your organisation could encounter many further problems.
It should also be remembered it is always far more costly to repair a damaged reputation and lost sales, than it is to actually complete a business transaction properly in the first place.
What is also equally intriguing is that the people who create the above appalling customer service scenarios, and their managers or business owners, do not seem to care. Yet, I am sure, that they get equally frustrated when as an enquirer, they experience similar scenarios.
It sure is a strange world where so often we all experience such incompetence and lack of respect and it keeps on reoccurring. As most of us have experienced, especially since COVID, manners, great customer service and a focus on quality, seem to have been lost. Yet it is these aspects of our lives which bring the best rewards.
References
“Customer service a conflict zone” by Malcolm Knox in The Age 5 July 2025, page 41.
Our blog from April titled YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE TODAY IS THE WINDOW TO YOUR BUSINESS – MAKE SURE IT REFLECTS THE BEST YOUR BUSINESS CAN DO can be found at www.creditmatters.com.au.
Want to know more, contact Kim at kim@creditmatters.com.au, or 0411 649 261, or have a look at what we offer via our website at www.creditmatters.com.au
