Thank you for calling XYZ Company. Your call is important to us but not important enough for us to answer it. Please hold for eternity or leave a message and a representative will contact you as soon as it is convenient for us.
If youve ever used the telephone to contact a business you can relate to the frustration that can result from voice mail or automated answering services. Undoubtedly, when they first became the way to do business it was extremely annoying; however, times are changing, folks are automating and imprudent business practices such as this are gaining acceptance (or at least tolerance).
Of course the ole time principles of customer services such as answering the phone before the third ring, avoiding putting a customer on hold if at all possible, and providing personal service are still superb solutions to customer satisfaction. But, in our automated world, it is vital to recognize the importance of responding to customers quickly and appropriately, especially if they have been forced to listen to a long recording and traipse through a jungle of push buttons in order to leave a message for you instead of being afforded the luxury of speaking...