How many of you enjoy hearing that automated voice, “Press 1 for . . . 2 for . . . 3 for . . .”? If you're like me, you've already researched online for an answer and haven't found it, hence your reason for calling. The standardized responses on these automated systems that offer everything I've already discovered online before connecting me to a live person simply increases my frustration and level of annoyance.

Can I give you some advice? Hire more people to answer your phones! Believe me, it’s worth it! Getting a real human on the other end of the line (vs. getting informed that this is recorded for quality purposes) does something in terms of preventing high blood pressure. Our bank in Kentucky understood this. I ALWAYS got a person on the line when I called in. I was never put on hold, I was never sent careening through endless menus trying to get to someone, nor was I pointed to a voicemail box that was either full or pointless since many people no longer respond to their voice messages. So hire another person or two. And if they can’t help the customer they can at least direct them to the right person or promise the caller that they will get back to them with an answer. You may be surprised what this does for your business!

I once read about a B2B insurance agency that spent two million dollars ripping out voice mail from their agency. EVERY call gets answered by a human EVERY time. It paid for itself in four months. They understood serving the customer.

Seth Godin called it a strategic investment, not a cost-cutting shortcut. Bottom line—it’s an act of serving the customer that also affects the bottom line.

So little confidence do consumers have in these electronic surrogates that a few weeks after the Web site gethuman.com showed how to reach a live person quickly at ten major consumer sites, instructions for more than 400 additional companies had poured in.

Listen, the most common complaint is being kept waiting, and that’s the number one issue with automated phone systems. Do you want a competitive advantage? Hire someone to answer phones even if that person doesn’t have all the answers. Have someone who can be warm and friendly and direct the call to someone who can actually help, sparing a person navigating through endless menus while upping their frustration level.

And if an automated phone system is your only option? Put into your menu options right up front the option for a call-back, and then, make sure you call back!