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We need to re-invent service – or at least remember what and who service is about. It is about the customer – the client – the people who pay the bills and receive value from our products and services.
In our pursuit to gain centralized efficiency we have lost our way and forgotten the impact on our customers.
I know there are wonderful benefits for the call center but is client service one of them.
Last week, I was feeling fiscal and decided to check our corporate bank account online. I had the codes and passwords so all should be good – until the security question came up. What was the name of your first pet? Easy – Dixie (my dog). No. Ok, it must be Tiny (my cat). No. I must have meant Cecil (my next cat). No – and I am restricted from the account. I call the online banking call center and the minimally helpful person said I had no access to the account. Despite having signed papers documenting my ownership (where do those papers go anyway as no one seems to have them) I was told my account access was restricted and I had to present myself to a branch in person to re-activate the account. Lovely – no options, just a script.
Our accountant who also has access to the accounts online says he will straighten it out. The online banking Nazis now block him out – despite his having authorization on the account and offering to fax or scan it to them. No – not in the script.
So, we bow to the mountain and I take an hour from my week to go to our branch office (and it has to be the original branch where the account was set up and not any other branch). The branch person takes my identifications and confirms it is me – and then calls online banking. Guess what? They say no. Because my business partner’s name is first on the convenience card they will only recognize him and not me. You can guess how I feel right now and the smoke blowing out of my ears. And then – here it is – the online banking person asks if I would like an additional 2500 travel points as they have a deal right now. Are you ******* kidding?!
Now we are moving our accounts to another bank that seems to want out business.
Call centers are so removed from the customer they fail to understand what their role is in the equation. It is to provide service for the customer – not make it more and more difficult to do business. I understand the need for protection but what would really have helped was someone who thought of options to get us back in service. You could scan and email your identification or prove and get us back online. You could at least recognize the bank branch staff and take their word that I am the customer (even though I signed in the second space).
The convenience of calls centers is great but when it loses touch with the customer it does not work. If the call center was in the regional or local market, that might help. If there was actually a connection with the organization (and not farmed out) that would help. If the call center employees were trained and could think about options for flexibility (other than just rules), that would help.
When we look at making our customer service option more efficient, let’s start first and stay focused on the only person that matters – the customer. Staple yourself to an order and be the customer – go through the system of working with your organization as a customer and see what it is like. I bet it is not like you thought it was.
Just my opinion…
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