Tick tock, tick tock… April 18 waits for no man. 

Let me spoil the surprise for you now.  There’s no (direct) monetary benefit at the end of this post, but I’m going to keep it short for a reason.  The tax break that you’re getting here is a break from filling out forms and deciphering the tax code.  A moment of clarity. A “guided exhale,” if you will.

Think about all of the confusing documents and work sheets we’re saddled with every year around this time.  Think about who has created those forms.  The procedures are documented by people who are intimately familiar with the inner workings of the tax laws.  They’ve trained and studied for years to simply understand those laws, and they’ve had to pass tests and gain certifications in order to have the privilege of creating the booklets that most of us dread seeing annually.

Every year, I find myself wishing that those documents were written under the consultation of an Average Joe.  Someone who can’t understand a word of tax-speak, and could help the “informed” communicate more clearly with the “uninitiated.”

It’s frustrating.  It makes me angry, and it’s not something I look forward to experiencing.

Sometimes your contact center is like that.  No offense.  I’m glad you’re still reading (if you are), but look.  Some of your systems were written by people who know your way of doing things.  That can end up being confusing for the “uninitiated.”  Speaking as a customer, you’ll quickly win my loyalty, my repeat business, and probably some time on my social media pages if you make my first experience feel as if it were my fifty-first.  It doesn’t take a CPA to see that happy customers bring in more money than unhappy ones.

So take a deep breath, stretch your back, and get back to those taxes.  Then take a look at some of your customer-facing processes as if you’re new in town.