Frustration = Customer Attrition

I just went through one of those “root canal” customer service experiences in which the phone prompts led to endless rabbit holes. 
 
I understand that some of the larger companies out there do this on purpose to induce people to go online to handle issues.  Whatever . . . I guess they have figured out the risk/reward of doing so with their cost consultants.
 
But for the rest of us, who run small- to medium-sized businesses, franchises or regional offices, I HIGHLY recommend that any time we use prompts to direct incoming CRM calls, that our customers can immediately press “0” and access a real person, not another prompt. 
 
No automated system in the world can provide the level of customer comfort, empathy and problem-solving as a well-informed human being.
 
Simple rule:

Every customer should be treated like he/she is the most important person in the world . . . every time.

 
So far they have not created a robot that can do that.