The Office Jester… every office needs one to make the customer helpdesk interesting for the customer
Every business, these days, seems to be introducing the customer helpdesk into its operational systems. The reason is as much based in common sense as statistics. Common sense says that when customers have a problem or query, they want to sort it out immediately and with the help of another person.
They’re not interested in reading the solutions and then trying to figure out which one fits their specific problem. They just want someone to tell them what to do so that they don’t have to put their minds and more importantly their time on it. This is why customer helpdesks are so useful.
Statistically, as well, studies and surveys have found that customer helpdesks boost customer retention and even draw in new customers. For example, in one survey more than 60 percent of the respondents said that they’re more agreeable to buying something if they can talk to a company representative exactly when they’re considering the product.
This is the essence of customer helpdesks. Customer helpdesks are serious business for most businesses. However, like most things “serious”, they have a very funny side if you only step outside the business mind-set. One simple trick is to imagine the customer helpdesk scenario at a time when the concept didn’t exist. Case in point, ladies and gentlemen, this video of medieval customer helpdesk or as we like to put it, the true origins of the customer helpdesk.
The True Origins of the Customer Helpdesk
When Gutenberg invented the printing press and printed the Gutenberg bible, he must’ve had to handle customer service himself and deal with such people. Can you imagine Gutenberg introducing the bible book to people who had never seen paper, leave alone a book ever in their lives?
Check out this image. You can tell this must be after the first few days of Gutenberg peddling the Gutenberg bible to traditionalists and facing the same kind of dim-wittedness and vitriol that Copernicus and Galileo must’ve faced in their time. He looks utterly disgusted with the thick-headedness of people.
This video, though, is one of the best we’ve come across. It has layers and if you’ve been following the Office Jester, then you’d know that we love layers in our videos. This one not only makes fun of the slow customer but actually pokes fun at the entire system of customer helpdesk.
For instance, while it brings in the stupidity of the customer through statements such as the “it’s this thing”, “beek”, and “I was afraid some of the text would disappear”. There were even some of the “duh” moments such as the time he checked if the text continued from the previous page or not or even the flipping of the book and being unable to open it.
There was even a little bit of sarcasm from the customer defending his stupidity. From the making fun of the system side, the video does it by the new system causing everyone wanting help, the fake cordiality, the stating of the obvious again and again, and even the sheer patronisation of the customer.
Seeing this video made us wonder how many times our grandparents go through this routine every month. Perhaps, showing this video to your grandparents will help you answer this question for us?
More importantly, seeing this video made us wonder if our kids are going to be as slow as this monk about books. They’re dying you know and soon enough your kids won’t know what to do, if given one.
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