However, phone calls can be just as frustrating as web-based support. First, the phone
number has to be in an obvious place on the website; making users search is only going to
further upset them before they actually punch the digits, which just deepens the hole the
customer service representative has to dig the company out of. Publish the number boldly,
on every page of the support section. Also publish the hours of operation (noting the time
zone), and, if technically possible, how long the wait currently is.
And for the record, there??™s no good reason to put an image of a young, perfectly styled,
headset-wearing, big-smile-with-dimples woman standing by to solve your problems. We
all understand that call centers are not staffed with people who double as stock photography
models (see Figure 10-7). Also, do not bother taking photos of your own support
people. Visitors will not know the difference, and staff come and go.
Figure 10-7. It is not necessary to put an image of a shiny woman next to your support number. It
won??™t fool anyone.
In addition, make sure the number somehow goes to a person. Designing call center
phone menus is far beyond the scope of this book, but keep in mind that at the end of the
day, everyone just wants to talk to another human being about their problem.
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