Elaborate Phone Trees

I have never understood why companies design elaborate phone tree menu options for customers to go through. Especially if all of the phone tree options dump the customer into the same pool agents anyway. Customers really just want the fastest ways to get their issue solved and move on with their day. In terms of customer experience, a company needs the customer to remember the fast service and not the elaborate (and slow) phone tree.

Here are my rules for setting up a phone tree:

1. Get the customer to the right place as fast as possible.
   
2. Recorded message needs to be quick and concise.
   
3. Only as many options as are necessary.
   
   1. If two or more options end up in the same pool of agents, combine them into one.
      
4. Options should be for routing calls to get the customer in the right spot not for reporting purposes.
   
   1. Customers will just press random buttons to get to a live person anyway.
      
5. Do not make customers listen to the entire menu before they can choose.
   
6. Phone trees should never go more than two deep.