I am 48 years old and I was recently told off by a member of staff in a branch of McDonalds. There I was, standing in a queue of about six or seven people waiting to order (medium chicken nugget meal with chocolate milkshake for a Challen Jnr, in case you were wondering) and I declined an offer from a junior member of staff to use one of the screens instead. It turns out that me being happy to wait in line to order the ‘traditional’ way was a BIG deal.
About a minute later, a senior member of staff then approached me saying, “When you are told to use the machines, it would really help us out if you would do so.” A bit harsh as an opening gambit to a paying customer I thought, especially when I wasn’t “told” to do anything. Anyway, I calmly replied with the same reason I had told the previous employee: “I don’t really get on with them and I’d rather order through a human being not a computer.” I also find them overly complicated and a little too keen on trying to make you spend more money, but I didn’t voice that opinion…
The manager then started muttering about improving efficiency and standards at the branch and then, unbelievably, walked off when I was replying to them! Great customer service, eh?
The truth is I would ALWAYS prefer to speak to someone instead of using indirect technology. It’s why I will go to great lengths to find a company’s phone number, instead of using an online chatbot or email. It’s also a much more efficient way of getting some problems sorted, as opposed to waiting for a reply via a screen or risking something getting taken out of context.
Having spoken to people about my stance, I realise I’m probably in the minority, which I’m absolutely fine with. However, it’s other people who seem to have the problem with it. For example, I can almost hear the sighs of exasperation when I go through a drive-thru and I reveal that no, unfortunately I’m NOT “using the app today”.
To me – in work and in life – it is so important to have a human connection. Again, I’m nudging 50, so my early working years meant phone calls to people were very much the norm. And from those calls came good working relationships and often friendships. I’d have conversations that veer away from the reasons for calling – sometimes we never got to that point and there were follow-up calls when we remembered why we were calling. Inefficient? Maybe, but at least you get to know the person behind the email, which can lead to a much better understanding of them as a person, colleague, client or contact. And who knows where those conversations can lead?
Clearly, I’m not the only phone-botherer in the industry, but actually talking to people – whether in real life or on the phone (don't get me started on voice notes!) – is definitely a dying art. My belief is that, in business, this direct communication is still so important. It’s why we have weekly client video calls and also why exhibitions and events have come back stronger post-Covid than many people predicted.
The human touch that can make such a difference to a working relationship and build trust, confidence and relationships in general. Relationships that, in my case, have stood the test of time for more than 26 years in some cases. One example is Torque’s own MD, Marco Ferrari, who I first spoke to in 2000 when I was starting out as a journalist. More than a quarter of a century later – and hours of lunches and phone conversations later – I’m still talking to him on a regular basis, whether he likes it or not!
