“Please hold the line, your call is very important to us.” Words to make anyone who has ever been on the receiving end (and that’s all of us) sigh longingly; a bit like a deflating beach ball. It’s usually followed by a looped music track that slowly breaks your spirit for the next 20 to 40 minutes until you finally get through to a human being, by which time you’ve entirely forgotten why you called in the first place. It’s called, ‘The Runaround’. See our friend in the flow chart? This is Bob. He’s currently in the middle of this modern-age telephone limbo. Bob was doing nothing more than minding his own business, looking to make an enquiry with a company he had heard good things about. At first, Bob is unaware of entering ‘The Runaround’. He gets through to a receptionist who is polite and professional and he makes his enquiry. That’s when it happens. First, Bob is told that no one is available to take his call, so he leaves a voicemail asking for a call back. Bob waits. Bob hears nothing. He could give up now, but he’d like to give this company the benefit of the doubt (apparently they are great at what they do), so Bob calls again. The same friendly receptionist apologises for the oversight and then gives Bob the salesman’s mobile number so he can contact him directly. Bob hangs up and redials. This time he gets the salesman’s personal voicemail. He leaves another message and waits. Again. Bob calls once more. Irritated, he explains to the receptionist what’s happened. She promptly transfers him to another team member who can help him in the absence of the salesman. The hold music starts and Bob can feel the life begin to drain out of him. The music cuts abruptly and the line rings; finally, light at the end of the tunnel. Someone picks up. It’s the answering machine. Bob sighs, now firmly in the grip of ‘The Runaround’. He leaves a final message, doesn’t care if they call back, and moves on to another company. Fortunately, Bob is a work of fiction, but no doubt one that we can all empathise with. If customer service is something you value strongly, there is a way to avoid getting a frustrated caller on the line again. With new cloud-based communication tools you could set-up a virtual receptionist and Bob’s call could be handled a lot smarter. You choose where to send Bob’s call right from the start, whether directly to an office based sales team or to a member of staff on the go, no matter where they might be. In the event that a team member is out of reach, calls and voicemails can be set up to divert to available colleagues, meaning Bob never has to get ‘The Runaround’ again. Business relationships are all about great communications. When thinking about how to improve yours, put yourself in Bob’s shoes and think, how best can I avoid giving customers ‘The Runaround’?

1. The
virtual receptionist handles
the call
OR
Their receptionist answers
YOUR CALL IS
TRANSFERRED TO
JOHN
YOU CALL A
COMPANY TO
MAKE AN
ENQUIRY
YOU GET
JOHN’S
MOBILE
NUMBER
THE RECEPTIONIST
SUGGESTS TRYING
JANE
YOU CHOOSE JOHN
FROM THE MENU
YOU CHOOSE THE
SALES DEPARTMENT
Whoever is
available answers
“WELL DONE YOU
SMOOTH OPERATOR!”
But John is not
at his desk
You hang up
and redial
You ring Jane but discover
she is out of the office
John is otherwise
engaged
You leave a
voicemail and wait
You leave another
voicemail and wait
Déjà vu?
So you start
over
You call the
office again
Back to the
receptionist
again. Really?!
Go ahead and vent
your frustration
GIVE UP AND CALL
ANOTHER SUPPLIER
But John is not
at his desk
However, if John is available,
he can answer your call on
any of his devices
Your call goes to voicemail
only when no-one is available
An email alert goes to John (and other
selected colleagues) and is acted upon quickly
Otherwise the call
forwards to his team
WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER?
THE RUNAROUND THE SMART WAY
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