A receptionist/switchboard operator mirrors your organisation

Some do not even know their physical address, website or any other branches. often you can hear the receptionist shout out asking her colleagues.

I'm certain these organisations perceive that by just pasting a pretty face at reception, who can blubber "good morning may I help you?", on the telephone is enough. Not realising that it goes beyond just answering the telephone and directing calls to the correct extension.

I have personally experienced some unprofessional conduct and unpalatable behavior many a times at various industries that I call on a daily basis. I am not exaggerating when I say that 41% of at least 20 of the calls that I make in a day leave me flustered to say the least, and leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

It is either one of the following three things that you confront when a call lands at a company.

You are transferred to the correct extension and get greeted by the answering machine. companies do purport their staff to be too busy to answer their extensions. Let us give them the benefit of this doubt and say employees would be out on business.

Thanks to technology, but I think at times this technology is abused and used as an excuse not to deliver. I personally would never call again a company where staffers just leave voice messages for two consecutive days without bothering to call me back. It doesn't matter if they are the only company in the world to sell me that product or service.

Customers need to talk to a live person to discuss their needs, not some machine that keeps telling me "voice recording is not possible now" and then just switches off. If you are lucky you will be awarded the opportunity to record your message and then leave your name and number.

Secondly, you might be transferred to the accounts department, that you never asked for in the first place. If everything is on your side on this particular day, the accounts person redirect you back to switch board because they are too busy to look for the correct extension on the internal staff list.

Then the receptionist will apologise profusely and then ask you "What department is Mr Moyo?" or "Which Mr Moyo sir because we have three here". At the end of a valuable ten minutes wasted, you will eventually get to speak to the rightful person.

Thirdly, there is the rude, lazy and arrogant receptionist/switchboard operator, who will not bother to go that extra mile. She might take down your message but will not hand it over in time.

Of course I realise they have to contend with nuisance callers, who call without enough details like initials, departments etc. Still, the receptionist/switchboard operator is the mirror into the true image of an organisation.

If you choose to cut down on costs by hiring unqualified staff, then invest a little bit more on training. I do not think it will leave a gaping hole in your budget.