As a customer, have you ever wondered why companies force you into a customer service environment that seems to be convenient only for them? We choose to interact with organizations for a variety of reasons with a desired end result in mind. We have a general expectation of how service should be delivered and the amount of time we are willing to invest in the interaction. Today's customer is experienced, knowledgeable, demanding, and willing and able to defect to another company at the drop of a credit card. Frustrating customer experiences are rooted in customer-facing services designed from the inside (them)-out (you), absent of what's important to the customer, and more concerned with cost containment than with revenue opportunity.