I'm going to run a little experiment and complete every survey request I get for at least the next 90 days. Before I begin, I wanted to establish some criteria. Here's my reflections on good criteria after attending the Service Management Group (SMG) Forum.
Influence
Changes Comes Slowly Except When It Comes Quickly
in Influence
Loved Nate Silver's Change Doesn't Usually Come this Fast. What were some of the causes for such rapid change in beliefs?
- Generational - we all got younger
- Personal connections - we all knew someone who was gay
- Persuavise - it just made sense
Or perhaps, we just finally realized it was time for change. Nate shares this great quote from Paul Graham's essay, What You Can't Say.
“It seems to be a constant throughout history: In every period, people believed things that were just ridiculous, and believed them so strongly that you would have gotten in terrible trouble for saying otherwise.
Is our time any different? To anyone who has read any amount of history, the answer is almost certainly no. It would be a remarkable coincidence if ours were the first era to get everything just right.”
The Benefits of Fake Typing
I called AT&T to unlock my decommissioned phone, and I was greeted by a pleasant computer voice. He said I could speak to him in complete sentences, and ask him anything.
"I want to unlock my phone." He sent me a text with instructions on how to make this request on their website. The reason I was calling in the first place is because my online request was denied. Their circular service model appears to be build around discouraging me from unlocking my phone.
I told him that I had already tried the website and that I needed to speak to an operator. After both my requests, he said, "Hang on while I check on that." And then I could hear typing on the phone. At first, I thought how stupid do they think I am that this computer is actually typing, but then I realized, silence would be worse.
This simple skeuomorph was well conceived. To fill the silence, they needed something that signaled we're making progress. The typing sound does exactly that.
A minor annoyance that happens often is when someone sees me in the hallway and asks, "Did you get my email?" I find it frustrating on two levels:
- I'm not in my email all day. I check it at multiple times a day, but I try not to be distracted by every message as they arrive.
- They know the email in their heads, but often that basic question isn't enough to trigger the topic they want to discuss.
I've learned this question comes from a void that individual is feeling. They know they sent the request, but now they are just hearing silence. So lately, I'm borrowing from AT&T, and I'm providing my own typing sounds to reassure email senders that things are moving forward.
- "Great question. Let me look into it, and I'll get back to you shortly."
- "That's a good idea. Give me a couple of days to think about it."
- "I'm on it. I'll update you once I know more."
- "Thanks for sharing."