When companies advertise their services or goods, they are
looking for just one end result ? sales. It?s a simple
straightforward concept ? it?s business. However, as companies
expand and conduct more and more trade online, the personal
touches can all but disappear. It seems these days that every
inanimate object can speak to us. Robotic voices are everywhere,
from talking elevators instructing passengers to stand clear of
the doors, to cars warning occupants that seat belts should be
fastened. On top of all this, there are automated telephone
systems that offer us multiple number choices and infuriating
recorded options. ?If you have been holding for more than 4
hours and feel you need to go to the bathroom, please press 2?
Obviously, this is an exaggeration, but it makes the point that
as companies grow, far from employing more people to talk and
interact with their customers, they head off in the opposite
direction and put an answer machine on the end of the phone;
most of which tend to make callers hang up before the recording
has offered them the first set of numbers to choose from. A
talking machine will not sell a product to a potential customer.
Not only is it completely lacking a personality, it can?t
interact with people, it can?t share a joke; it?s totally
incapable of making a caller feel welcome, yet many companies
inflict this type of system on the people they want to sell
their products to. It is unfortunate, but all this change is
simply the world of commerce evolving and getting ever faster,
and although not everyone agrees with it, most of us accept it
as being here to stay. So where has the personal touch gone?
Thankfully, in smaller businesses, it is usually very much alive
and kicking. The most effective communication tools between
companies and customers are people, and increasingly, a growing
number of small business owners are realising this and
reintroducing the human factor by employing somebody simply to
answer the phone. Customers want to talk to a ?person,? someone
who will answer the telephone without instructing them to press
3 if they prefer cream in their coffee or 4 if they take it
black! Someone who takes the time to ask the right questions
instead of telling them to ?press 6 for all other enquiries.?
People generally like to spend a few minutes in idle
conversation or banter before going on to more important issues,
it makes them feel better knowing that someone, and not a
machine is listening to what they have to say. Having a business
website is a must for anybody who wants to trade in today?s
markets, but there also has be a ?human? presence to compliment
it. Larger companies above all should start realising this and
not hide behind the Internet or their communication systems. It
is human nature to want to talk, that is what language is for,
and a website or telephone should not be an obstacle to that.
About the author:
John Sheridan is a professional proofreader of hard copy items
and website copy. He also writes web copy and occasionally
accepts small copy-editing assignments. He can be contacted at:
john@textcorrect.co.uk website: www.textcorrect.co.uk This
article is the property of the author and may only be reproduced
in its original form.
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