Back To The Book

Years ago, I worked as a customer service rep (CSR) in the claims department for a major insurance company. We had basically the same conversation with different customers all day long. So, the company was able to create a script to walk us through the conversation. When we were hired we were given a huge book that contained that script in one section. Another section contained the answers to common questions. When you first started the job, you did not touch your phone until you had the book open and situated. You read from it religiously and never wavered. As time passed, without noticing it, you would always have the book open, but you didn't read from it because you could quote the script verbatim. Again, as you gained experience, you got to the point that you didn't touch the book any more. And again, you eventually put the script in your own words.

Every now and then, management would send out a memo when they noticed a pattern of incorrect responses being given to specific questions. The memo would tell you exactly where to look in the book for the correct response. The memo would first make you realize how long it had been since you looked at your book. Then when you saw the correct response, you wondered how you came up with the response you had been giving. Sometimes, it was because someone else gave you the wrong answer. Sometimes because you were saying what you heard others say. Sometimes because you were saying what sounded good to you. In any case, you realized that you were not doing your job as well as you thought, and it was important to refer back to the book.

May we all refer back to The Book.