What is a De-Human?

We all are … if we allow ourselves to be.

This past week I have spent hours trying to sort out a billing issue with my telecoms company. I started with the online chat system but it told me ‘I’m sorry, I cannot understand your query, please contact us on …’. I went on to the email option only to receive an automated response. Days later, I had not received the promised contact from customer service. So I resorted to the telephone help line. When I finally spoke to a real person, I received the standard customer service script. It didn’t solve my problem.

Have you ever experienced something similar? A situation where it doesn’t feel as though anyone cares about you, or your problem? Where it is impossible to have a real human interaction? Or where a company treats you as a nothing but a number?

My experience got me thinking about our day to day interactions with business. How, far too often, we are de-humanised by the experience. What can we do to stop this from happening?

It often feels like we must accept this as a customer of a large business. Think telecoms, utilities, banks and insurance companies, as some examples. Do we, though? Is our acceptance akin to giving permission to treat us as a de-human?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of technological advances in customer service. I am more than happy to chat to a bot or fire an instant message off to someone. After all, my main goal in these instances is to get my problem solved. As fast as possible and as efficiently as possible. The de-humanising part of our experience is that no-one appears to care about us or our problem. They don’t see the human behind the interaction, automated or in person.

As George Bernard Shaw put it, progress is impossible without change, so I decided not to allow myself to become a de-human.

What can I do to re-humanise these interactions?

Change my mindset:

Start with respect. Part of our frustration stems from feeling disrespected. Feeling respect is one of our core human needs. In the interaction this week, I didn’t feel respected by my telecoms company. Upon reflection, I realised that I didn’t have a lot of respect for them either. If we want a human interaction, we need to make it a human interaction. I aim to remember that a business is its people — fellow humans — and that none have intentionally aimed to disrespect me. I will start my future interactions with respect at the forefront.

Give the customer service an “A”. A simple mindset shift, the concept of ‘giving an A’ is based on the work of Benjamin Zander where expecting people will perform at an A level opens up the possibilities for greatness. Additionally, your interaction will be more positive when you treat the business, system or person as deserving of an A.

Be the bigger human. Even when you’re conversing with a bot. Be polite. Keep your emotions under control. Look for opportunities to make a positive connection and to get your message heard. Invite the human to engage with you and your problem. Give them permission to go ‘off-script’. If all still fails, remember that it is usually the system and not the person who is failing you.

Change the system:

Feed it back. Businesses are living systems and can only change based on feedback. Often our frustration, despair and our desire to move on stops us from providing feedback. Go beyond complaining that your problem isn’t solved. Provide feedback on the system, how it made you feel and what you expect from them. Throw one stone into the pond and create some ripples.

Change the business:

Use my power wisely. As customers we do not need to continue to do business with those who treat us as de-humans. Often through inertia, or the effort involved in moving, we stay with a business that provides poor service. We opt to complain (more often to our family and friends than to the business) rather than leave. In this era of increased competition and business disruption, we must use our power as consumers to send the message that we matter. It is only through demanding businesses to treat us with respect, care for our needs and be human in their service that we will see change. People power can make re-humanising business a core competitive advantage. We must use this power wisely for a better world.

Are these actions guaranteed to re-humanise customer service interactions? There are no guarantees, especially while this type of interaction still exists.

However, change is possible.

If we want to avoid being the de-human, we need to start by being the human.

So, let’s band together against the de-human. Tell me where you plan to re-human today?