The Conference Coach™

The last posting, I talked about the customer experience in conference calling…how it went from an operator dialing out to participants dialing in on an 800 number.  Then automation took over by allowing users to enter a passcode and then to ultimately conferencing without a reservation.

Most conference calls work reliably every time you pick up the phone and call leaders seem pretty happy.  And, most people think that you can’t automate beyond a reservationless call.  However, I think that the industry ignores one of the most important people in the transaction, the administrative assistant.

Administrative assistants have a great deal of authority and responsibility these days, especially in the face of staff reductions.  They make decisions for many operational functions in the company and quite a few services, including conferencing.  They also care a great deal about efficiency and making sure they don’t waste their time.  Imagine how much harder life would be if an administrator had to wait on hold to track a UPS shipment…or to book an airline ticket.

At Copper, we think the administrator is often the most important person in the conferencing equation and we should improve their experience just like the industry improved the experience of the call leader.  No administrator should have to call customer service to add or delete a user, to get a copy of their invoice, or to find out what their usage is.

Companies need to think about everyone involved in the customer experience equation and improve the experience all the way around.  Sometimes it’s the person that you think about the least that counts the most!