The missing human touch in Singapore’s customer service costs more than we think

MOST companies think they have a customer service problem. They don’t. They have a data problem that looks like a people problem. Until leaders can see the difference, they’ll keep investing in the wrong fix.

I’ve lived both sides of it. Last month, I called a company to sort out a billing issue. The chatbot couldn’t parse what I was asking. I got transferred. The human agent was patient, but put me on hold three times just to pull up my account history.

I spent 40 minutes resolving something that could have taken five. What struck me was watching a capable, well-intentioned person be defeated by the firm’s own systems in real time.