How one minimum wage employee can bankrupt a company.

I entered the lobby. It was nine fifty five. I had a ten
o’clock with the Chief Executive Officer. I approached the
receptionist. She was answering telephone calls;

“XYZ Incorporated, how many I help you?”

The phone kept ringing, she continued to answer every call
on the first ring. She seemed unable to see me standing in
front of her.

I took out my cell phone, began capturing her on video for
the next twenty seconds, then, stepping away, rang my
secretary. She in turn would call the C.E.O. and tell him:

“Sir, the Consultant is in the Lobby but unable to see you
as the receptionist refuses to acknowledge. Could you be
good enough to go down to the Lobby?”

It is a typical problem; so typical, that when I rang
my secretary I simply said; “Keisha”, my name for a
receptionist who is fascinated by telephones.

The reason why this company was losing business was that
clients who phoned were given priority to those present.

I saw the C.E.O enter the lobby before he saw me. I didn’t
need my video to prove the point.

He stood aghast as a line milled around reception desk
while she kept answering the phone. He watched people
leave in disgust.

But it’s perfectly understandable.

You are a Japanese businessman who has flown in to
discuss a multi-million dollar deal, you are ignored
in the lobby for one minute, you walk out.

No one will do business with a company which ignores them.

The entry point to your business must be welcoming, at
least acknowledging. The client who is present must
always take priority over those on the telephone.

It is such a common mistake a consultant can virtually
collect his or her fee going no farther than the lobby.

My task was very simple.

All I did was request copies of the appointment books from
all departments going back two months, notated with how
many had not been kept.

It seemed evident the large number of “no shows” had actually
shown, but reached no farther than the lobby.

The C.E.O. was incredulous. He never imagined performing
an audit on how many appointments were not kept.

This company lost millions of dollars because of a minimum
wage employee.

‘Voice mail’ or “Automated Answering” is not the solution.

Many potential customers or clients are not going to listen
to a long “If you want to speak to our technical department
press one, if you wish to speak to our…”

Either they push “0″ (to speak to a human) or hang up.

Those who go through the rigmarole, might, at the end of
the recording, appreciate that their request can not be
answered, press “0″, while others might make errors and
have to start again.

Why bother?

Imagine if an overseas client was searching for a local
representative. Surely he would not want his business
handled by “voice mail”.

It is wiser to have a call answered by a human who can
differentiate between callers. Some calls can be routed
to automated systems, but some must be immediately sent
to senior personnel.

It is not wise to “cut down” on costs by having the
receptionist be the telephone operator unless she is
capable of appreciating that the person in front of
her takes priority over the one on the telephone.

Minimum wage is not so onerous that one can not afford
that extra operator. In fact, it suggests that the
company using voice mail is not economically viable.

It doesn’t take five minutes to advise all employees that
the person standing in front of them takes priority over
the telephone call.

Of course, if this were done, I might be out of a job.