Tuesday June 20, 2017

Responding to customers quickly has never been easier with the latest interactive voice response solutions. Customers are now accustomed to using an IVR to book a flight, make an appointment for an x-ray, check their bank balance, submit an insurance claim, and much more. Businesses can streamline customer service like never before with a cost effective interactive voice response solution that meets their customers’ needs.

But what if my customers won’t use the system? What if they just “zero-out” and want to speak to a live agent? Well… human behavior is an interesting thing. For better or worse, we tend to choose the path of least resistance. If your customer has a choice – push 1 to pay their bill now using an automated tool, with no chit-chat and no wait times, versus pushing 0 to wait in a queue (who knows how long that will take) to speak with a live agent to perform the same routine task – 10 to 1 will choose the automated tool.

In our fast-paced lives, chances are that your customer is calling to make an inquiry or bill payment while watching their child play soccer, or making dinner, or in between business meetings. The faster they can get a response, and perform this routine account transaction, the happier a customer they will be.

But be warned; if it’s not designed right, your customers won’t use it a second time and your money is wasted on a piece of technology. What I mean is that you have bought an IVR in name only. You must ensure that it is easy to use, truly interactive and predictable. The secret to an IVR is not the technology but the call flow, options and ease of navigation; the human factor.

This is not as simple as it sounds; we take for granted the design of the roads we drive on but how many people realize the planning and design work that has gone into our transportation infrastructure by seasoned, professional engineers? You may have the best technology behind your IVR but if it does not interact effectively with your customers you’re placing a barrier in your own road to profitability.

Don’t disappoint your customers with long wait times and no option to quickly perform routine account transactions. The sooner your customers have access to an “interactive” voice response solution, the sooner the fuss will be over.