I was on the phone with my cable company the other day and the recording told me that my “Customer Care Executive” would be with me in a minute. Executive? What in the world is a customer care executive? I knew I wasn’t getting anyone in an elevated role in the company because I had not spoken to anyone yet so this is their first touch, general recording.

I still can’t figure out what their objective is for naming their reps executives. I thought that maybe I have a misunderstanding as to the actual definition of executive. I think of it as an elevated manager/supervisor role. I looked up “executive” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary and found this:

Main Entry: 1 ex·ec·u·tive Pronunciation: \ig- ˈ ze-k(y)ə-tiv, -kyü-\ Function: adjective Date: 1649

1 a : of or relating to the execution of the laws and the conduct of public and national affairs b : belonging to the branch of government that is charged with such powers as diplomatic representation, superintendence of the execution of the laws, and appointment of officials and that usually has some power over legislation (as through veto) — compare judicial , legislative

2 a : designed for or relating to execution or carrying into effect <executive board> b : having administrative or managerial responsibility <executive director >

3 : of or relating to an executive <the executive offices >

It seems like they squeezed in a definition that might almost work. Designed for carrying into effect. I guess that could be a good business objective for a customer service team. But the connotation for most of us is still far outside the scope of what a call center rep can do.

Then I started thinking about what the responsibilities and training would look like for a customer care executive. Would there be advanced problem solving and decision making skills? That sounds pretty great for customers.

The name implies not only a greater skill set but an expanded scope of influence in the company. As a trainer, I can’t help but think how long it would take to get these agents ramped up. Is the starting level for this team an executive? As an operations person I can’t help but think how difficult it would be to hire these people and since call centers have notoriously high turnover this would be a major ongoing challenge. As a strategist I can’t help but think of it as a missed opportunity to have a level of agent to escalate to when customers are dissatisfied with the answer or service they receive. The trainer in me also thinks it is a missed opportunity to develop and offer a level for agents who aspire to advance. What a great pool this could be for future company leaders!

But alas, I didn’t get the impression from my interaction that this was anything but the same old customer service rep, who did help me with my problem, but is now burdened with the executive moniker.