Speak to a Real Consultant

By Craig Arthur

I needed to phone the company that manages the URL of one of my clients.

I went to their website to find the number.

There it was, top right. Easy to find. Top Marks.

Beneath the 1300 number was the following…

“Call us & speak with a real eBusiness Consultant.”

I hate dealing with automated answering services, so this sentence impressed me.

I called.

Thank you for calling xxxxx, (An automated response)

(Disappointment)

Please press 1 for… press 2 for… press 3 for…

I pressed 2.

I got… press 1 for… press 2 for… press 3 for…

I pressed 1. (getting pissed off)

Then I got… press 1 for… press 2 for… press 3 for…

After pressing 2, I was then told my call would be answered shortly.

Ok what I want to know is “Where is the REAL CONSULTANT I was promised on the web site?”

I did speak to a guy called Billy who was extremely helpful.

However, my expectation was, I would speak to a real consultant straight up.

This company could ague that I indeed did speak to a real consultant.

But, four levels down an automated tunnel is not what I was expecting. 

I was disappointed only because this company raised my expectations at the beginning.

The moral of the story?

Make your promise PLAIN & SIMPLE. Then DELIVER.

PS. Be sure there can be no other interpretation of what you promise.