Cookie Cutter Blues

This is about putting oneself in someone else’s shoes. Everyone know this is important. Yet this is very difficult to do. I think many people underestimate how difficult it is. The point is difference between “I can feel your pain” and “I can infer your pain”.

I had a problem with online banking. I called the bank for support and went through all the call center experience you can imagine. I gave them some feedback and this is what I got.

“We would like to thank you for taking the time to provide us with your valuable feedback, and we shall escalate it to the relevant department for further review.”

When you receive this, you know that your feedback will not go to relevant department. Even if it does, you will not hear back from them so you will never know.

I suspect this is template all support staffs use within the bank.

I am sure the support staffs are all very humain in daily life, just like us. We have an ability to feel others’ pain. But if you are exposed to too pain, your mind become numb. Like doctor can infer the pain of injection, but do not feel the pain.

Template make job easy., but it also makes people indifferent to others. Zappos is well known for their customer centric culture. They also have call center and they do not have call scripts.