I think if more systems architects sat down with their customer service teams. One thing they would note is that the representative is not always going to get the full transaction in one take. Sometimes, they will need to follow up a few days later or in the case of a dropped call, a few minutes later, and systems need to be able to handle these scenarios.

When I called Doubletree, my call was dropped right before I finished giving the credit card number and completing the order. Having provided the phone number I was calling from, I waited. They did not call back. I was clearly a potential sale, (moments from a completed sale) but they were not set up to follow up and fulfill the order. When I did finally call them back, I got a new representative who had no access to all my previously entered information and showed no empathy about having to start the process over from the beginning, because that is how it’s done there.

Ont he other hand, when I called GIECO, I was not sure it was the policy I wanted. “No problem”, said Matt. He gave me his direct number to call back when I was ready He also followed up with a nemail thanking me for my time and offering his email, if that was more convenient for me. When I called back a week later, he even (seemed to) remembered who I was.

GIECO was set up to handle customers that require more than one take, Doubletree has a long way to go.