What Marcey D and tomwilliams102 Reminded Me About Being a Good Realtor
March 28th, 2008 Categories: Fun Fridays
We keep things fun around here on Fridays and only tackle the lite stuff. It’s a nice way to end the week…
Given all the hardship in the world, I should probably just shrug this one off. But I wasted an entire hour this week, a victim of one of those frustrating episodes that have become all too common in the computer age.
It all began with a bill in the mail for Internet service from a provider I don’t use, for services I never ordered. I tried phoning to clear up the mess; a recording informed me that they had a higher than usual call volume and hinted that I would probably turn into petrified old coot before they picked up. Would I prefer to try their ”easy online chat support?”
Why not? Five minutes later I was instant messaging with “Marcey D.” As best as I can recall, the conversation went like this. (You’ll just have to imagine the 2 to 3 minute delay Marcey needed to type each 10 word response.)
Me: Hi. I’ve just received a bill in the mail for services I’ve never ordered. Can you help?
Marcey D: I’m sorry to hear that. Would you please provide your password for the account? Our records show it is your pet’s name.
Me: No, you don’t get it, Marcey. I don’t have a pet and don’t know the password because I didn’t set up the account. Someone named tomwilliams102 did.
Marcey D: I’ll be happy to assist you tomwilliams102. Please provide the last 4 digits of the credit card you used to start the account.
Me: Marcy, please listen: I’m not tomwilliams. I’m Ken Haedrich and I just want to clear this up! Am I talking to a real person?
Marcey D: (Extended delay)….Yes.
Me: Then you’re dumber than dirt, Marcey, and I hope your boyfriend runs off with your best friend and empties your bank accounts, too!
Okay, maybe I didn’t really type that last one. But I sure felt like it after this went
on for about 25 more minutes. It was like trying to have a conversation with one of those Magic Eight Balls, only worse because I’d been led to believe that Marcey was real, when she was just a computer responding to certain key words I had typed.
High Tech is All Well and Good, But What Ever Happened to High Touch?
For the record, I’m pro technology. Heaven knows, we’ll consider almost any innovation that has a clear benefit for our clients.
But innovation often comes with a price, and we all seem to be paying more and more. When we can no longer pick up a phone and talk to a real, living and breathing Marcey and tell her that we’ve got a problem…when we have to press our way through ten minutes of menu choices to call our health insurance company, only then to be put on hold, it’s hard to feel technologically blessed.
Marcey reminded me that while technology is amazing, it’s no substitute for the human touch. That certainly holds true in our business. Email and all this fancy internet stuff is great, it really is. And it’s never going away. But it’s just a link to the human connection and the things that matter.
They say that something like 85% of people who shop for homes these days begin their search online. Many will use the internet exclusively, up to the point where they’re ready to make an offer. Then they’ll contact an agent.
That agent had better not give them the run around like Marcey did me, or they’ll be looking for an agent elsewhere real fast.
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Very true Ken. I found myself in a similar position this week with a answering service where I have to answer 13 questions before getting to the operator who is going to ask me the same questions. I even found myself yelling at the computer and would have probably felt better if she/it didn’t answer back so politely.
Hi Jon, and thanks for stopping by. Yes, that kills me too: first you give the answers to a machine, then you have to repeat them to an operator. Who can remember all this stuff anymore, either? I must have 50 different PINs, passwords, and user names of one sort or another. When I go on vacation, it takes a while to remember them all again when I get back.