Why does it seem so hard to contact a business these days? It's almost like they deliberately hide their phone numbers from us. When we do manage to ring, they often make us sit through an endless list of 'caller options' before allowing us to speaking to anyone. Are they deliberately trying to dissuade us from getting in touch or are we expecting too much too soon from customer services? Evan Davis speak to the people managing our calls. Guests:
Leigh Hopwood: Chief Executive of the Call Centre Management Association
Dave Mills: NHS specialist at EVAD
Tim Callington: Director of technology firm Flipside Producer: Nick Holland
Studio Managers: James Beard & Rod Farquhar
Production Coordinators: Siobhan Reed & Iona Hammond
Editor: Hugh Levinson  .

'Sorry, all our agents are busy right now'

Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show with insights from the people at the top.

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Shopping

Every brand wants attention, to be seen as a must-have, but how do some manage stratospheric levels of popularity? It might happen organically, perhaps even by accident, but it’s also true that many brands engineer it. Evan Davis and guest discuss the tricks of the trade, from social media influencers to artificial scarcity, and the potential pitfalls when a product is so popular that it's almost impossible to get hold of. Plus, what is it that compels people to queue several hours for a sandwich, or pay ten times the usual price for a bottle of energy drink - we explore the consumer psychology behind the hype. Evan is joined by: Ellis Gilbert, founder of Soho Yacht Club and Talk Nice Studios;
Rory Sutherland, vice chair of Ogilvy UK;
Dr Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, reader in psychology at Anglia Ruskin University;
and Sian Evans, founder of Chatsworth Bakehouse. PRODUCTION TEAM: Producer: Simon Tulett
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Neil Churchill and Donald MacDonald
Production co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge (Picture: A customer jumps in the air as he leaves an iPhone store in London, after being the first person to buy the brand's latest phone. Credit: Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)

Hype

China produces more than half the world's electric vehicles and is scaling up exports, but there are concerns its manufacturers would have an unfair advantage in the UK, which could spell disaster for domestic firms. Evan Davis and guests discuss the UK's dilemma around Chinese EVs - do we open our doors to the competition, which might mean cheaper electric cars for consumers and a quicker transition to net zero, or should the government follow the USA and EU in considering import restrictions to protect domestic car-makers? Plus, do buyers really care where their EV is made, and will 100% of new car sales be electric by 2035? Evan is joined by: Ginny Buckley, editor-in-chief and founder, electrifying.com;
Victor Zhang, UK country director of Omoda and Jaecoo (made by Chery);
James Taylor, UK managing director, Vauxhall;
Fraser Brown, managing director, MotorVise PRODUCTION TEAM: Producer: Simon Tulett
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge

Electric Cars: Made in China?

With the entrepreneur, philanthropist and author.
 
The Decisions That Made Me A Leader is a mini-series from The Bottom Line. It features one-on-one interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders, including Duncan Bannatyne, Martha Lane Fox, and the boss of Depop, Simon Beckerman. All of these episodes are available on BBC Sounds and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer. To find the series, just search: The Decisions That Made Me A Leader. 
 
Host: Evan Davis
Producers: Paige Neal-Holder and Farhana Haider
Assistant Editor: Matthew Willis 
Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning Editor: Hugh Levinson

The Decisions That Made Me A Leader: Dragon's Den's Duncan Bannatyne

Martha Lane Fox was first catapulted into the public eye during the dot.com boom as co-founder of lastminute.com the online agency she set up with Brent Hoberman in the late 1990s. It was valued at three quarters of a billion pounds when it floated on the London stock exchange in 2000.  She then experienced a life change road accident while on holiday in Morocco when she was thrown from the passenger seat of an open-top car. She says she very nearly died. ‘They rank you in trauma I was a 37, 39 is dead’ Her career has ranged from launching karaoke chain Lucky Voice to serving as the government’s digital champion and being on the board of twitter, during one its most complex times.  She is currently the President of the British Chamber of Commerce  Evan asks about the key personal and business-related decisions that got her to where she is today. The Decisions That Made Me A Leader is a mini-series from The Bottom Line. It features one-on-one interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders, including Duncan Bannatyne, Martha Lane Fox, and the boss of Depop, Simon Beckerman. All of these episodes are available on BBC Sounds and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer. To find the series, just search: The Decisions That Made Me A Leader. You can also watch the series on BBC iPlayer. To find the series, just search: The Decisions That Made Me A Leader. Host: Evan Davis
Producers: Paige Neal-Holder and Farhana Haider
Assistant Editor: Matt Willis
Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning Editor: Hugh Levinson A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

The Decisions That Made Me A Leader: Lastminute.com's Martha Lane Fox

Simon Beckerman is the founder of Depop, a platform where people can buy and sell pre-loved fashion, it currently has around 35 million registered users.  He sold the company to Etsy for £1.25 billion in 2021. Simon grew up in Italy to British and Italian parents who he describes as rebels in their own way and even as a teenager he knew he had to build his own business because ‘I was unemployable’ His latest business, is DELLI a food app connecting independent retailers with consumers.
 
Evan asks about the key personal and business-related decisions that got him to where he is today. The Decisions That Made Me A Leader is a mini-series from The Bottom Line. It features one-on-one interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders, including Duncan Bannatyne, Martha Lane Fox, and the boss of Depop, Simon Beckerman. All of these episodes are available on BBC Sounds and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer. To find the series, just search: The Decisions That Made Me A Leader. You can also watch the series on BBC iPlayer. To find the series, just search: The Decisions That Made Me A Leader. Host: Evan Davis
Producers: Paige Neal-Holder and Farhana Haider
Assistant Editor: Matt Willis
Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham
Commissioning Editor: Hugh Levinson A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

'Sorry, all our agents are busy right now'

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