Learning from Louis CK: "Of Course, But Maybe" in the Contact Center

Yes, he has "Pootie Tang," "Lucky Louie" and a mediocre "SNL" hosting gig on his resume. But after decades of success in stand-up and writing, Louis CK, now more than ever, reigns as untouchable in the world of comedy.

He has become a national touring sensation. He revolutionized content distribution by directly selling a comedy special to digital consumers. He knocked the critical community into a daze over his FX comedy series "Louie."

And despite the long career, the success, the mainstream breakthrough and growing profile, his comedy remains as strong as ever.

Louis CK proved himself worth the hype in Saturday’s HBO special "Oh My God." Though it might not have been the best cable special of his career, it nonetheless provided a perfect blueprint for succeeding in stand-up comedy. It was edgy without being excessively raunchy. It was controversial without being too uncomfortable. And it was witty and clever without losing its mainstream accessibility.

Of course it was the best
For some comedy fans, selecting the standout "Oh My God" bit could be as daunting as identifying the best Beatles album or picking the hottest Victoria’s Secret model.

But much in the way a gun to the head would make me exclaim "Revolver" and "Candice Swanepoel," it would also make me—and many in the media, it seems—trumpet "Of Course…But Maybe."

"Everybody has a competition in their brain of good thoughts and bad thoughts," explains CK. "For me, I always have both. I have the thing I believe, the good thing. And then there’s this thing (cue villainous gesture). And I don’t believe it…but it is there.

"It’s become a category in my brain that I call ‘of course…but maybe.’"

Across the acclaimed bit, CK showcases examples of how dueling thoughts can penetrate the mind on even the most sensitive, seemingly-irrefutable of issues.

"Of course," for instance, "children who have nut allergies need to be protected. We need to segregate their food from nuts, have their medication available at all times; anybody who manufactures or serves food needs to be aware of deadly nut allergies. Of course.

"But maybe if touching a nut kills you, you’re supposed to die."

The material driving CK’s bit was anything but risk averse and non-committal. After opening with the nut allergy debate, the comedian also tackled military deaths and slavery.

"Of course if you’re fighting for your country and you get shot or hurt, it’s a terrible tragedy," explained CK. "But maybe if you pick up a gun and go to another country and get shot, it’s not that weird. Maybe if you get shot by the dude you were just shooting at, it’s kind of your fault."

He continued, "Of course slavery is the worst thing that ever happened. Every time it has happened – black people in America, Jews in Egypt, every time a whole race of people has been enslaved, it’s a horrible thing.

But maybe every incredible human achievement in history was done with slaves. Every single thing where you go, ‘How did they build those pyramids?’ They just threw human death and suffering at them until they were finished…There is no end to what you can do when you don’t give a f*ck about particular people."

Of course Louis CK is not sincerely advocating these counterarguments. And of course viewers are not supposed to exit the bit with questions about whether military deaths and slavery are truly tragic. But maybe it speaks to the uncertainty of ideals—and to the darkness of mankind—that such thoughts could even penetrate the brain.

And if they can strike against innocuous statements like "Make-a-Wish is a valuable foundation" and "we shouldn’t stand idly by as kids die from nut allergies," what else can they attack?

But maybe we’re wrong about contact center philosophy?

Can they undermine conventional notions of customer support?

Whether in an article, interview, webinar, motivational speech or conference presentation, of course a customer management thought leader is certain to advocate for a customer-centric approach to the contact center.

Of course the contact center must be customer-centric. Of course it must be staffed, structured and managed in the manner most conducive to satisfying customers. Of course performance metrics must be geared towards a stronger customer experience. And of course all agents should approach calls with the notion that the customer—or at least how the customer feels about what happened—is "right."

But maybe the contact center is part of a business and should be run in the most efficient, shareholder-centric manner possible. Maybe we should not let customer whims govern how we run our call centers given the fact that they do not necessarily know anything about running a business. Maybe the metrics that matter to a given customer could render agents so inefficient and overworked that they would be unable to help other customers. Maybe some customers are so rude, overly-entitled and impossible to please that there is no value in catering to their demands.

Maybe some customers are actually wrong.

Dealing with nagging, disrespectful customers is a picnic for no man, and it is a certainty that some of these "but maybes" have crossed the minds of contact center agents. Some customers are wrong and are obnoxious, and an agent would be lying if he claims he has never considered reciprocating their disrespect.

But save for questions about performance metrics, these alternatives to contact center convention are simply not as resonant as those posed in Louis CK’s stand-up routine.
Where CK’s counterarguments fall on moral and humanitarian grounds, contact center "but maybes" also fail to pass even the cruelest logical or utilitarian muster.

Because customer satisfaction is a crucial business driver, one cannot run the contact center like a for-profit business without focusing on customer-centricity. Customer management thinkers often place business-minded contact centers and customer-centric centers at opposite poles, but the reality is that they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, customer centricity is a prerequisite for a successful business.

As such, the contact center must be structured and managed in customer-minded fashion. Customers, themselves, might not be business experts, but if the center is not designed to meet their needs and grow their satisfaction, it is also failing from a business standpoint.

Contact centers leaders do need to think about efficiency when managing performance but only insofar as efficiency matters to customers. If customers demand quick calls, leadership must coach agents to quickly clarify and resolve their issues.

Alternatively, if a segment of the audience prefers lengthy, in-depth calls, it is the business’ responsibility—not the customer’s—to provide those deep calls without affecting the service the other, speed-oriented customers.

Many customers will be disrespectful—if not outright wrong—but allowing such facts to cloud the experience is the greatest mistake a business can make. No matter who is at fault, the brand, more often than not, retains the greater power to resolve the issue and must use that power to the customer’s benefit. And no matter how rude the customer, it is highly unlikely he believes himself to be a bad person or out of line, which means his expectation of a cordial, respectful service experience still stands.

Customer-centricity is not morality
Though it is a wise idea, it is not absolutely essential that contact centers hire agents who are overly gushy, compassionate and morally-opposed to conflict. Customer-centricity is not simply a humanitarian conception.

Rather, it is a business mandate. And it is so important to the bottom line that even the greediest person, no matter how inherently rude and inconsiderate, should understand the need to be customer-centric in his approach to customer support.