"I will not direct you to our website..."

“I will not direct you to our website...”

I would like to propose a change to business practices that are taking place today.  I believe that this would be a disruptive innovation which flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

Too often, when you call up a company and ask for information about the company, too often the first response is “have you looked at our website?”  I believe that this is not only disrespectful to the client, but it shows a measure of intellectual laziness on the part of the person whom the client is speaking to.  It becomes a crutch that the employee can use so that they do not need to address the problem directly.

The problem is thus, we know that the company has a website.  If the problem could be solved by looking at the website we would not bother calling the company in the first place. 

Sadly, too many companies are going down this road.  They have used their website as the solution to all client problems. 

I am of the personal belief that computers have had potentially disruptive effect on the way that human beings relate to one another.  We have gotten lazy.   To often we assume that if we put all of our information on our website it eventually clients will take the time to read the website and we will not need to be bothered dealing with them.  I believe that the next disruptive step in business will be to turn the clock back and take a step back from our websites.

The human race is basically a social race.  Ever since we were hunter gathers we have engaged in behavior which is inherently social.  In fact, many readings have suggested that many of our habits date back tens of thousands of years.  Evolution takes a long time and we have not yet changed much from the time we did from our hunter-gatherer days.  Maybe in a few thousand years of using social media and computers we might evolve into something called homo informatus. But now we need to address our human needs now.

There are those who suggest that social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are actually taking away from our social contact with one another.  Sure they are useful tools, but are not a substitute for human contact with one another.  After all, now many Facebook friends would come to help you if you had a serious emotional issue?

An innovative step would be for a company to train their employees to engage the client socially before directing them to the website.  The website should be used as a last step after the employee has addressed the inquiry.  The first stage of the conversation will begin “I will not direct you to the website”.  Not only does this show respect to the client, but it will force the employee to take responsibility for the problem and give the client proper service.   By engaging the needs of the client directly, the company is giving a level of attention which has been somewhat lacking in today’s business climate.  Hundreds of companies rely on websites as their primary mode of information and giving more personal attention would run against the current of information media. 

Remember, people want service, but they also want community.  Human beings need to interact with other human beings.  Our ancestors gathered in festivals during celebrations and holy days.  A few generations ago our forefathers would attend church service together.  We used to attend sporting events together.  By addressing that need for community we can provide a far superior form of client satisfaction.  

(photo by mconnors on Morguefile)