Improve customer service is not only about faster processes, better technology, or more digital solutions. Sometimes, a simple technical problem reveals much deeper organizational challenges: unclear responsibilities, fragmented processes, and communication failures.
At the moment, I can only be reached via mobile phone in my new office. The reason: A telephone line needs to be transferred from one location to another. In a modern infrastructure, this should be a routine process that can be completed without major difficulties.
But reality looks different.
For two weeks, I have been trying to make this transition happen. Over the past few days, I have had numerous conversations with different employees, departments, and companies involved. The cable provider refers me to the DSL provider, the DSL provider refers me to additional internal processes. On top of that, there are interfaces with an international cloud telephony provider.
The result: multiple forms, different contacts, conflicting information, and no clear ownership.
In the end, this is not primarily a technical problem.
It is a communication problem.
When Customer Service Becomes Nothing More Than Processes
The individual employees are not the real problem.
Many genuinely try to help. Some take the time to listen carefully and make an effort to find solutions. At the same time, it becomes clear that they are also part of a system that leaves little room for independent decisions.
Many employees only know their own part of a much larger process. They work with fixed guidelines, have limited access rights, and cannot manage cases across departmental boundaries.
This creates a situation that is becoming increasingly visible in many organizations:
Service is no longer truly delivered — it is merely simulated.
- A digital form creates the impression of structure.
- A chatbot creates the impression of support.
A hotline creates the impression of responsibility. - But if nobody takes ownership of the entire issue, the customer is ultimately left alone with the problem.
The Real Challenge Is Not Complexity
Modern organizations are complex.
Telecommunications, energy providers, banks, insurance companies, mobility providers, and public institutions all have to combine numerous requirements: technical systems, data protection, compliance, partner networks, and historically grown structures.
This complexity is unavoidable.
The problem begins when complexity becomes an excuse for poor communication.
Customers do not see internal organizational structures. They do not see departments, responsibilities, or system architectures.
They see one organization.
When customers have to coordinate the internal processes of a company themselves, something fundamental has gone wrong.
Digital Solutions Must Not Replace Responsibility
Digitalization offers enormous opportunities. Automation can accelerate processes, reduce workloads, and give customers more options to handle their requests independently.
However, digitalization becomes problematic when it causes responsibility to disappear.
Because good service is not about moving people through a process as quickly as possible.
Good service means helping people navigate complexity.
That requires:
- understanding the bigger picture,
- taking responsibility,
- explaining clearly,
- enabling solutions.
In an increasingly complex society, these abilities are becoming more important than ever.
Who Helps People Who Cannot Navigate These Systems?
Not everyone has the same ability to move through digital structures.
What happens to people who are less familiar with technology?
To older customers?
To those who struggle with digital forms, upload portals, or automated phone systems?
These people also need access to essential services.
Telecommunications, energy, banking, insurance, mobility, and healthcare are not optional services. They are part of everyday life.
When people fail because processes have become too complicated, this is not merely a technical issue.
It is a communication issue.
For many customers, customer service is becoming an increasing challenge. Photo: DALL·E by DIKT
Organizations Communicate Through Their Processes
Many organizations view communication primarily as external visibility: advertising, websites, public relations, or executive messages.
But communication happens at every touchpoint.
- A form communicates.
- A waiting loop communicates.
- A transfer between departments communicates.
- A chatbot communicates.
- The absence of a responsible contact person communicates.
The key question is:
What message does an organization send through its processes?
In the worst case, the message is:
“ Our internal system matters more than your concern.”
These experiences damage trust.
Trust is not only lost through major crises or public failures. It is also lost through countless small moments when people realize: Nobody takes responsibility. Nobody understands the complete situation.
Four Principles for Better Organizations
To prevent service from becoming pure process management, organizations need four fundamental principles.
1. Ownership Throughout the Entire Process
Customers must not become coordinators of internal responsibilities. Important concerns require a clear role or person who accompanies the process and takes ownership from beginning to end.
2. More Decision-Making Authority for Employees
Employees who directly interact with customers need the ability to solve problems — not just instructions on which process steps to repeat.
3. Clear and Understandable Communication
Internal terminology, department abbreviations, and technical concepts may help within an organization. Externally, they must be translated.
Good communication means making complexity understandable.
4. Human Support When Digital Processes Reach Their Limits
Digital processes are valuable as long as they support people.
They become problematic when they prevent people from speaking with other people once a standard process no longer works.
Communication Is Infrastructure
The human being is not the error in the system.
The human element is increasingly missing from the system.
That is why leaders need to understand communication as strategic infrastructure again.
- Not as a soft factor.
- Not as service rhetoric.
- Not as an additional measure.
Communication connects people, processes, and decisions.
When this connection is missing, even a simple telephone transfer can reveal deeper structural problems within an organization.
Ultimately, this is not just about a phone line.
It is about a fundamental question:
Have we created processes that support people? Or processes in which responsibility disappears?
Anyone leading complex organizations must do more than optimize workflows.
They must make responsibility visible.
This is exactly what we work on in our communication and leadership trainings: clear messages, clear responsibilities, and clear impact.
Where do you experience that service today is too often replaced by processes?
I would be interested in your perspective.
Your
Nikolai A. Behr
Dr. Nikolai A. Behr CSP® ist Keynote Speaker, Kommunikationsexperte und Medientrainer für Führung, Vertrauen und empathische Kommunikation in Zeiten von Wandel und KI.