Think I’m getting the….
Runaround. You know that sound of “on hold” background music you hear through the phone, followed by the occasional “we apologize for the inconvenience but all of our representatives are currently assisting other customers, please stay on the line for the next available representative”? Really? Because I am completely convinced that even if there were 100 representatives available, you are still getting put on hold, regardless, and there are standing orders to not address anyone for at least 5 to 10 minutes in what companies refer to as “SOP” or “standing operating procedures”. Believe it is also know as “standard operating procedures” and both work equally as well, point being, they are out there and being practiced. The question you ask is why? Well, I am here to tell you. In a nutshell, it was devised to lessen our interest in why we were calling in the first place. Now I am fairly convinced this all started with the folks over in the “cancellation” department, as in, you are calling to “cancel” your existing service from some kind of provider. Obviously, companies don’t want to be cancelled as it takes away their income so what to do? I know, let’s make it as hard as humanly possible to cancel that service. Even if it only results in one person not cancelling, well, it’s a win, right? Placing someone on hold for excruciatingly long periods of time, combined with blaring really bad music (and let’s not forget putting a little feedback on the line when actually speaking to a customer) tends to eat away at one’s resolve in staying on that line and again, if all goes to plan, results in a hang up and a non-cancellation.
Now expand that theory to all phases of a company (except the sales department, where there is rarely a wait and if there is, you’ll usually get something out of it) and think about it. Less calls received, less work to do. Less work to do, less number of employees required to handle and process the incoming calls. More profit. Simple as that.
And I mention all this because here we are at end of week 8 post surgery recovery, deep into dealing with the bills and insurance company, along with the employee company benefit reps and in general, spending a lot of time on the phone and getting put on hold a lot. I should add to the above being put a hold conversation that having a computer ask you questions before actually talking to you was also an extremely brilliant move and may almost be as effective as being placed on hold when it comes to getting consumers to give up on the call.
And then, you finally get to that one right and correct person, the one that can actually answer a question, get something done for you and basically get everything in order after a good couple weeks of dealing with so many others that essentially point the finger the other way and take no responsibility for anything (as I am sure they have been instructed to do) and you breathe a quick sigh of relief knowing that you are not crazy, that this all did make a lot of sense and it truly wasn’t a hard fix in the first place.
And that happened today. Thank you Chris! You all have a great weekend and see you next week!
