Every single member of the Startups office has been on the phone to a call centre at some point this week – and with varying degrees of success, frustration and downright office rage.

When one of us had the misfortune of having a bank card eaten by a cash machine, the obvious thing to do was to call the bank (which shall remain nameless) and report it. Or so we thought…

“You have reached the lost and stolen cards helpline,” the recorded message declared. “Please now enter the 16 digit number on the front of your card so we can find your account.”

I’m sorry. The whole reason for the call was to report the destruction of the card by your machine. Perhaps you’re suggesting breaking into the cash machine so the number on the front of it can be ascertained?

The problem was eventually settled after going through a myriad of keypad options which finally led to a human being who could logically think the problem through. But it still took about 10 minutes longer than it needed to.

There’s been much talk of the fact that many companies are now moving their call centres back to the UK as a result of customers’ frustration at explaining their gas leak or internet connection issues with somebody halfway across the world. But is having a British accent on the end of the line enough to keep people happy?

Customer service is one of those areas where you can really make your mark, and stand head and shoulders above the larger competition. You can put a contact number on your website that actually links through to a real person picking up the telephone – a person that can actually advise on the query instead of transferring the caller to another department.

Clearly as you grow your business, you’ll need to look at different options for how you to deal with your customers when they want to contact you, but here’s something to bear in mind:

One of the speakers at the Library House Innovation and Growth conference this week said he had changed the name of his customer services department to customer ‘service’. It may seem like all we’ve done is get rid of an ‘s’, he said, but it’s actually a whole different way of doing business.

The emphasis moves from providing a service, to being ready to serve.