Blog

PLEASE! Let Me Speak to a Human!

 

Do you remember when one could call a company and speak to a real human being ? What happened?

In our rush to reduce costs in the corporate world by slashing headcount we have arrived at a place where, if you have a question or a problem,  there’s no one to talk to anymore. Organizations have rushed to implement chatbots, the majority of which are unable to answer standard questions, offering only boilerplate “non-help”.

The result: a race to the bottom with customer service standing at an all-time low.

This presents a wonderful opportunity: Any company that wants to stand out and develop a unique relationship with its customer base can now stand head-and-shoulders above the rest by employing human beings who interact with other human beings. The world has become increasingly frustrated and exhausted from useless and faceless technology that has failed to replace useful and friendly humans.

This presents a unique opportunity to become distinctive in the marketplace. Do you want to be different and better? If so, dust off the phones and bring back the people to answer them when customers call.

Subscribe and receive your free eBook

Get email updates whenever a new article is posted
Loading

Goodbye Twitter!

Call me a Luddite or worse, but I finally pulled the plug on Twitter last week. There were two reasons: according to Chris Barth's blog, "...the service has come under fire from a lot of different angles - it promotes overexposure, it doesn't make any money, and it...

read more

Dr. Mercola’s 8 Tips for an Effective Life

Dr. Joseph Mercola publishes one of the largest circulation newsletters in the world. It is dedicated to wellness and always contains useful tips. He ranges across education, technology, healthcare and medical insights. Here is one of his most recent articles that I...

read more

Life Lessons from Shirley

Part of my volunteer responsibilities as a Copper Mountain Ambassador is to take visitors who are unfamiliar with the area on a mountain tour. This week I took Shirley Ziebarth touring. She made it clear to me that she only wanted to ski advanced terrain. No beginner...

read more

Mastery and Relevance

With the jobless market at a 16-year high, and the continuing stream of depressing data flowing out of the media - let's take stock. Two things protect us from all this projected - and in some cases, imagined - misery. And they are the same two things that have always...

read more

Why it’s so Hard to Change

As we enter a New Year, we are filled with optimism - and also the awareness that achieving those hopes will be difficult for each of us because we will naturally resist change. Here is a story that reminds us to remain focused and conscious as we pursue growth,...

read more

Don’t Waste this Crisis

The world is in a funk. The news is depressing. Fear grips many. Sales of anti-depressants are up. As I walk out of my door this afternoon to go skiing in the fresh powder that has graced the Rockies, I drop my skis onto the ground and begin to step into the bindings....

read more

Creating Opportunity out of Adversity

In March 2007, just as my friend?Lisa Clapier was about to launch a national TV show with Patch Adams?as her co-host- The Torch - Reporting on Humanity's Greatness - she was sentenced to 2-6 years in prison. She was convicted of attempting pay with two checks for...

read more

Presidents and their Influence on Leadership

I have a theory about leadership (many, actually, but just one to share now!). I think CEOs and other leaders take their cue for their own leadership style from the current CEO of America - its President. If the prevailing mood is one of fear, power, partisanship,...

read more

The End of 90-Day, Metric Driven Leadership?

Years ago, I ran a private company. Our major competitors were publicly traded organizations who ran their businesses to meet the expectations of Wall Street analysts and shareholders. We, on the other hand, enjoyed the freedom of privacy which enabled us to make...

read more

Diversity? Or Inclusion?

Many of my clients are very committed to diversity in their organizations. But I have always been wary of diversity programs because "diversity" - a code word for reducing existing levels of prejudice - signifies that we have a "problem" and that we need to "fix" it....

read more

Solving the Leadership Crisis in the Office

The cover of the August 26th. issue of Business Week features Rainn Wilson, "who plays everybody's favorite workplace irritant on TV's The Office". It trumpets the headline, "Trouble at the Office? Toxic Bosses. Work/Life Balance. Generational Tension" and goes on to...

read more

Thank You and Goodbye Soulspace!

Twenty-five years ago, my wife and I were riding our mountain bikes in the country when we stumbled across a gorgeous log building tucked away in a corner of the Niagara Escarpment - the world's first United Nations Biosphere. It sat perched like an eagle's nest on...

read more