Cory and Shawn

I was watching an episode of one of my all-time favorite TV shows, Boy Meets World, the other day with my wife. The two main characters, Cory and Shawn, get internships at this company working in the mailroom. One day they are delivering mail on the floor where all of the company's executive officers' offices are located and they walk by a phone that's ringing. Shawn stops to answer the phone and Cory tries to talk him out of it. Shawn replies: "I may not know much about business, but I know that when the phone rings you answer it." After that Shawn gets appointed to be an assistant to one of the vice-presidents. As I watched this episode I realized that most of the time customer service really is that simple, just pick up the phone when it rings. We should be polite and helpful when we answer the phone but it all starts with answering it. Customer service associates can be trained by world-class professionals how to answer the phone but if it rings and goes unanswered all of the training was a waste. WE MUST ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN IT RINGS. It's that simple and is where it all starts.

The episode of Boy Meets World continues with Cory working in the mailroom bitter that Shawn was promoted. He looks at his supervisor, Phil (who appears to be in his 70's), and the following interchange occurs:

Cory: "I don't get it Phil, all he did was pick up the phone."
Phil: "Was it ringing?"
Cory: "Yeah."
Phil: "He's a smart kid."

That really was a smart move. Let's follow suit and answer the phone when it rings.

(the above mentioned episode is "Boy Meets World," Season 5, Episode 9)

Answering Machine

A few weeks ago I had an appointment with a local doctor's office.  Because of inclement weather the appointment needed to be rescheduled.  They called my cell phone and left a message (I wasn't able to answer at the time) informing me that their office would be closed that day and that we needed to reschedule.  They asked that I call them back to do so.  Later that afternoon I gave them a call and recieved the answering machine.  The message was a typical doctor's office message "You have reached Dr. So and So's practice.  Our normal business hours are 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday.  If you are calling during our normal business hours and receive this message we must be on the phone or assisting another customer..."  Then the recorded message ended and I waited for a second expecting to hear a beep after which I could leave a message.  Instead of a beep a computerized voice said "This system is unable to accept messages please call again."  I was blown away.  At first I thought that this was a bad joke that some bored receptionist tried to play with the patients so that she wouldn't have to return any phone calls, so I waited another few seconds.  Then the line was disconnected.  I was hung up on by the doctor's office. 

An important lesson in customer service was reinforced to me on this day: Do unto others as you would have done unto you (it is also known as the "Golden Rule").  Why did the office ask me to call them back to reschedule if they knew I wasn't going to be able to leave a message?  Well, maybe there was just a problem in the system that day.  It's possible, sometimes it happens.  But there is just as good a chance that it is always like that, you simply can't leave a message.  If the receptionist that called me to cancel the appointment would have told me not to call that day as they would not be there and I wouldn't be able to leave a message I would have thought it strange but appreciated the courtesy.  If I were consulting with this doctor's office I would strongly recommend that the answering machine/service be one of the first things that change.

I called them back another day and did speak with the receptionist who was kind and helpful and I was able to reschedule my appointment but what a silly answering system to have in place.