What kinds of organisations am I referring too? Those in industries such as Telecommunications, Banking, Finance, Insurance and many, many more.
How can organisations providing services that affect people's lives behave like they don't value or communicate in a courteous manner with individual clients rather they choose to 'treat them like a number'?
What gives them the right to train their staff, particularly call centres, to refuse service through their actions of not understanding the concept of helping their paying clients and go into 'text book quote responses' assuming the client is trying to 'scam' or 'get away with something'. There is often no demonstration of empathy or understanding when there is an upset, confused individual trying to do the right thing and trying to find the right answers. Why do they have the attitude that the individual client is 'the enemy. Don't they realise without these clients they wouldn't exist?
They appear to have lost sight that their clients are not an expert in their industry and are often confused plus don't understand the 'lingo' which is why they are reaching out trying to communicate to seek answers.
It is time that the power of the individual person was honoured and if a corporation has a monopoly on a service and it is known by each and every individual person that they take a stand and say NO to being treated disrespectfully and inappropriately.
This behaviour is called bullying in the playground. Why do we as a society tolerate this attitude in large, powerful organisations?
I believe in the power of the people. I believe in the importance and value of face-to-face communication. I am not suggesting to express your discontent in an aggressive or violent manner but just where you spend your dollar and advising in a calm, measured manner.
I also don't blame the individual staff working for these organisations this is a reflection of the whole organisational structure and needs to be addressed on all levels.
I challenge all consumers to commit to 'shopping around' on an annual basis and change service providers if you find a better deal because the majority are setup to 'chase new business' rather than nurture existing clients until they start nurturing and valuing long term clients.
And I challenge all those that work or train or supervise or manage or direct in a large corporation to be open to change and hear what I have to say in my 20 minute presentation on The Lost Art of Face-to-Face Communication' on how they can transform their culture and daily working lives to one of joy and meaning.