Two weeks ago, in full Administrative Assistant mode, I made a phone call to an insurance company with one goal in mind; to get a copy of my fiancé’s business liability insurance certificate.  He is a landscaping contractor and liability insurance is a necessity for him.

After changing insurance companies because of poor  customer service, he immediately started having problems with the new company when he needed a copy of his insurance certificate.  Although the payment had cleared the bank, he still had a problem getting his hands on the paperwork.  Repeated phone calls and e-mails over a week’s time were never returned. 

By this time, he had a job that required a copy of his certificate.  Except, as he couldn’t reach a live person, he couldn’t get a copy.  After another week, he finally managed to get the rep on the phone and was promised a copy.  Except, you guessed it, it never happened.  Needless to say, he was a little upset (understatement) and frustrated (understandably).

At this point I offered to help by making a call for him.  But, he tried one more time, got voice mail again, and finally gave in and let me help.  I’d had enough myself and got the contact name and number.

I already knew that leaving voice messages wasn’t working, so my plan was to find a way around the voice mail.  This was going to be tricky, though, since it seemed that the insurance company’s goal was to be unavailable to their customers.

My first call that morning hit the voice-mail wall and I hung up.  How was I going to get a person on the phone?  Their phone system was automated from the get-go which made it almost impossible to talk to a living, breathing human being.  “Almost” is the key word here, though, so when I redialed I pushed the one button I knew would connect me…

“Press ‘1’ if you would like a quote for new insurance.”

Bingo!!  Just as I thought, a live person came on right away.  I nicely explained the problem and, before I could say thank you, I was transferred to someone right there in the room who could help me.

The story ended well, with no less than seven apologies, and a higher-level contact person (with e-mail address and direct phone line).  And, the company followed through with both the needed documents and more apologies to my landscaper.

After going through all that, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Just how clever do your customers  have to be to get what should be the most important thing of all, the service or product for the money that they’ve paid for?”

As a consumer myself, I think only one thing… “Was what I just paid for worth it?”

If spending just one minute on the phone with your customers will not only care for their needs, but ensure that they keep returning, wouldn’t that be worth the minute?  In times of economic abundance, perhaps this isn’t as much of a priority for some.  But these days…??

Take a look at your processes, policies, and procedures, and then ask yourself…

“How clever do my clients have to be?”