Consider you require a service in August and get feedback that you are waitlisted 6th (with 5 requests before yours) due to lack off resources. The outlook is that somewhere in September you’ll be helped. You decide to live with this answer and patiently wait. The remainder of August and September pass by and off course… nothing happens! No communication, no delivery of the requested service, nothing….

At the beginning of October you pick up the phone and after 3 transfers to people that might know, you inquire politely about the status of your request. You find out you are still waitlisted and in 6th position. You get an unsatisfactory explanation why the situation is what it is.

Then you decide to change tactics and express your customer dissatisfaction and frustration. You might even ask for the manager…. All of a sudden, you are no longer waitlisted, the service you required since August is available next week, because resources are available in another part of the supplying organisation.

What does this story teach us?

1. This organisation would definitely benefit from a business process improvement program to sort out their business.
2. A kind, patient and polite customer seems not to be heard. The only VOC seems to be the loud and frustrated VOC in far too many cases.

I’m sure many more learnings can be deducted from this non-fiction story. Feel free to comment.