Boss demands software service rep stick to the script causing client catastrophe: 'My boss said, "Just follow the script"… so I did—all the way to a million-dollar client meltdown'

It really is something to marvel at how managers can repeatedly forget the importance of a human touch when it comes to dealing with clients. Hokey business theory and overconfidence are no match for good relationships and experience at your side. Yet, time and time again, new managers come marching on the scene, insecure about their place in their new role—maybe due to their lack of experience in the industry—overcompensating for that by making broad, sweeping changes, ignoring the pleas very staff who are enduring those changes and know they're not a good idea.

This customer service representative at a company that provided software to "major" players in healthcare found themselves trapped and restricted by their boss's new strict "script-only" policy when dealing with customers, effectively preventing customer service staff from using their own experience and relationships with their clients in order to effectively manage the relationship. So, when there was a quick fix required that wasn't quick according to this new protocol, the ensuing delay caused a major issue with a major client, leading that company's CEO to come swinging in a "Million-Dollar Client Meltdown"