Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It’s Only Common Sense: Answer the Phone the Right Way, Please

We’ve all experienced it, suffered through it, and even cursed it: It’s the way companies choose to answer the phone (if they do at all).

This is why Best Buy, for example, will go out of business. I called one time to make an appointment with the Geek Squad. I did this because I had learned the hard way: After driving 20 miles to the nearest store and waiting for 20 minutes in line at the Geek counter, I was told that there was nothing they could do because I hadn’t made an appointment. So, I made an appointment for the following week. I now knew the rules and was ready to abide by them—if I wanted to earn the privilege of doing business with Best Buy.

A year later, I wanted to buy a new mesh router that would cost somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000. I knew the cost and it was okay. First, though, I wanted to engage the Geeks for advice on the best router for my house. After I bought it, I had wanted them to come and set everything up. (I’ve learned the hard way that, “It’s so easy you can do it yourself,” is a crock.)

So, remembering the rule, I looked up the number of my local Best Buy and called them. But I did not get the Augusta, Maine store that was just 20 miles away from me. Instead (and you know what I’m going to say), I got connected with someone in a distant country. The connection was so bad that I could barely hear or understand him. Before I even could start my business, I had to give him my name, address, and phone number. Why? It’s not like calling the phone or the power company where they need to look up my account.

When I finally got to tell him what I wanted, he said he would need to connect me with someone else—which he quickly did before I could protest. The next connection was even worse than the first one, and the new person proceeded to ask me (again) for my name, address, and phone number. After much difficulty, I stated that I needed to make an appointment with the Geek Squad. You won’t believe this, but she said she couldn’t help me and transferred me to someone else. After four transfers, I gave up and ended the call in disgust.

All I wanted was to give Best Buy $2,000 of my business. What were they thinking? If customer service is the “face” of their business, its’ pretty ugly, and unpleasant (imagine my anti-customer scowling face).

Now, I don’t blame the people on the phone; they are just doing their jobs with what they have been given. In fact, they are as much a victim of the situation as I am. But just remember, Best Buy, that when you go out of business, it will be for this. It will not be because Amazon does not play fair—which I’m sure you will be screaming when it happens.

By the way, Best Buy, why don’t you walk down the “mall hall” to the Apple Store to see how business is supposed to be done and how you could be conducting your business. You’ll learn a lot.

Now, what about your business? Who is answering your phone? What kind of face are you putting on your business? What are customers faced with when they try to reach someone at your company?

If you have one of those “If you know your party’s extension” answering systems, forget it. You are not even in the ballpark when it comes to customer experience. You have given up completely and are sending a brutal message to anyone who calls. The “real” message says, “We just don’t care about you or your business.” Nice, right?

Think of all that money you have wasted on marketing. All that money, energy, and effort you spent on getting that person to call your company, then all they get is a message that might as well say, “We don’t care about you or your business.”

This should be so simple. Get a real, live person to answer your phones. Get someone who is charming, helpful, and pleasant to anyone who calls your company. It should be someone you will be proud to have as the face of your company. Train that person to be helpful, and to understand, in many ways at that moment when they answer the phone, that they are the most important person in the company.

Doing this single thing will change everything. I guarantee that it will enhance the customer’s experience and increase your business.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Marketing Group.