“All of our representatives are busy helping other customers right now. Wait times may be longer than normal. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

It seems this has become regular fare. But why?

Too many calls? Not enough people to handle the volume? 

What’s the solution? 

It’s not AI. That may be the current panacea, but it’s not the answer. And, heaven help us, the answer is definitely not more automated phone-tree nightmares.

The answer is quite different.

The answer is for businesses to start doing better work. Start making better stuff. Start making products that are reliable, friendly, functional, easy to use, intuitive, and pleasing. Have processes that are efficient, easy, and logical.

Make it so people don’t have to call. Up your game. Keep your promises. Get rid of the contractual, small-print, policy-laden nonsense and confusing bull$#!+. These are cop-outs for mediocrity. These are excuses for prioritizing the race to the bottom line. 

The answer is better work that makes calls the exception. The answer is great work, not “good enough” work. The answer is work that makes a better world, not work that meets legal requirements or company standards—which may be very little standard at all.

There’s a quote attributed to Michelangelo…

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

This is exactly why call volumes are high. It’s because businesses have aimed low and reached it. They’ve aimed at the bottom, and keep aiming, for their own self-interests of more rather than better.

If you are a business leader at all worried about call volumes, change the story. Make it about great, not average. Make it about art, not just science. Make it about what’s possible, not just what’s profitable.

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