0 Where, 0 Where Is The Human Support? | Customer Service POV From Glance's Tech Support Manager

What happened to the "0" button on your phone? I mean, it's still there. But in the last few decades, it has lost some of its swagger. It used to be so revered that many referred to it with a sense of wonder. Instead of "zero," they'd say "Oh."

Nowadays we want the "0" button to mean "Out" as in "Get me out of this menu-driven system!"

Call most companies - a credit card company, cable company, or an insurance company. You'll hear a pleasant voice welcoming you to waste 3 minutes to get the answer you wanted; you know, to better serve you. OK. They don't say "waste." They invite you to press more buttons. "Well," you say, "I just pressed 10 buttons to get here. How many more do I have to press to get what I need?"

And then you say, "0 no, I'm not!" So you don't listen to the menu options. Instead you hit the 0 button. Sometimes you get a human, like in the old days when hitting the 0 button connected you to a human operator. That's what you miss. And really, you don't care if this person has the answer you want, you just want to talk to someone. Support should not be like a vague vending machine: Press 1 if want something salty. Press 2 if you want something sweet.

But wait. Or rather, don't wait. For those in search of the answer from a real live human, I'd like to point you to one of my favorite sites that helps you get a human on the phone. Logically, you'll find it at www.gethuman.com.

You'll see that sometimes all it really takes is a matter of hitting the 0 button. Sometimes you have to hit 00000. Sometimes you have to wait for the prompt. So even in a menu-driven world, there are faster ways to reach a human. When you finally do, then you can feel like "Number 1."

-- Jorge Mestre, Tech Support Manager, Glance Networks

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