My company recently reaffirmed to keep telephone a major channel for customer interaction. We deal with people going through a critical period in their lives (t

My company recently reaffirmed to keep telephone a major channel for customer interaction. We deal with people going through a critical period in their lives (the start of permanent disability) and our ability to service them directly affects their welfare. Obviously we could automate it all via automated forms and pick an approach that puts the burden of proof on the customer. We choose to actively help them meet that standard. Back-end needs 100% efficiency, front-end needs 100% clarity, the customer needs support. We could improve profits by squeezing this lemon. It's a handful of IT staff for the forms instead of several dozen people servicing customers. It would even improve profits massively via the absence of claims. We choose not to. Our stakeholders (better) understand. In comparison to what I read on this platform on US-big corp culture, I feel lucky that my stakeholders do understand. We get to make this choice. It even benefits our brand in the long run. Sometimes customers (firms) go for the cheapest insurer, usually backed by foreign money (no flame their, that's EU competition as it is ment). Quite often they return 3 years later. Servicing former employees well is a service that employers recognize.