When Creating a Better IVR Experience Has Become a Simple Process, Why Do Some Businesses Continue to Frustrate their Customers?

IVRs (Interactive Voice Response) is a ubiquitous and often misunderstood contact center technology that provides many undeniable benefits. First and foremost, it eliminates the need for a switchboard operator to answer incoming calls, presenting callers with a menu of options to choose from, attempting to answer frequently asked questions, routing calls and in many cases, helping to deflect call volume from overburdened agents. Beyond the obvious advantages of time saving and 24/7 availability for customers, it enables functions such as providing bank and stock account balances and transfers, selective information lookup, simple order entry transactions, and more.

IVR systems are mainly comprised of telephony equipment, software applications, and a database along with supporting infrastructure. A business can either run its IVRs in house by purchasing the necessary software and hardware or choose to contract with an IVR hosting service that charges an ongoing fee.

Over the years, the IVR has become one of the most widely used products in contact centers, with a recent Call Centre Helper survey finding that usage is growing year-on-year, with 86.1% of contact centers installing such a system.

Of course, it’s far from all champagne and roses. For many consumers, IVRs are the technology they love to hate. Just about everyone has at one time or another been caught up in the maelstrom of a poorly programmed system that just takes them in a never-ending circle with no hope of resolving the issue they called in about. Comedians have had a field day lampooning the “Please listen carefully because our menus have changed” drone that callers encounter before often being overwhelmed with a laundry list of confusing options. IVR systems have been criticized for being an impersonal, impenetrable barrier between customers and live agents, whose jobs they have been accused of putting at risk.

Contributing to this disconnect is the fact a significant percentage of contact centers that implemented the technology a while back simply hasn’t made enough… or even any… changes to improve it. In fact, another Call Centre Helper poll found that 10% of organizations had never reviewed or updated their IVR systems, with another 10% saying they didn’t know the last time they had done so and another 14% revealing it had been more than a year.

Call routing through IVRs has evolved dramatically since the early days of basic menus and limited capabilities. Most companies have long since implemented advanced IVR systems that incorporate speech recognition software which enables customers to communicate more effectively by verbally expressing their requests instead of punching in numbers. When first introduced, such systems were a double-edged sword: callers became frustrated and angry at voice recognition systems that didn’t recognize their questions. Constant improvements in conversational AI and better voice recognition driven by natural language processing have made updated IVRs a far more valuable tool. In addition, language generation applications now provide the capability for the IVR to deliver more conversational responses.

All the elements are in place to offer an enhanced IVR experience that drives improved customer journeys. Yet, many companies are still in the dark about how to use IVRs to increase efficiency and deliver better business results. On October 24, CrmXchange is offering a complimentary webcast entitled “When Customers Call, Will Your IVR Be Ready?” presented by cloud communications specialist Plum Voice. Nogol Tardugno, VP of Customer Success for Plum Voice, will demonstrate specific steps to be taken to reduce customer frustration by deploying an optimized IVR. Among the topics to be discussed are:

• How to easily create IVR voice applications with no need for complex coding
• How to use permission structures that facilitate collaboration across technical and non-technical staff so that every member of the team can contribute to delivering an improved customer experience
• How to put data to work to gain a better understanding of how end-users interact with the company’s voice application enabling it to continuously identify areas for improvement
• How to effectively collect customer feedback and link it to specific customer-agent interactions

Register now for this demo session: those unable to attend live can download the webcast approximately 24 hours after it is completed.

Handling Customer Complaints

Customer complaints are par for the course when you run a business. Though it may sound bad, this can be good news. Ultimately, customers understand that mistakes are inevitable. Every complaint is a key to creating a better way to do things.

According to SalesVantage.com, companies without quality customer service skills will sometimes focus too much on the process. The complaint is pushed through quickly so that the next complaint can be heard. However, the customer never feels that their problem was resolved to their satisfaction. This non-personalized approach leaves the customer feeling as though they’re not important. Follow these tips for effectively handling customer complaints:

1. Provide one-on-one attention. Customers who use e-mail or web contact forms to file a complaint are looking for human interaction. This is different from when a customer asks a basic question about the product or service. Complaining customers are seeking out individual attention and the online submission is only the first step to getting that.

2. When a complaint is received, especially through social media, customers expect speed from customer service. By handling issues quickly, you can solve the problem before it becomes bigger and harder to handle.

3. Respond to all complaints professionally and politely. Even non-constructive complaints have to be replied to courteously. When customers are angry, they notice every detail of how their problem is handled. If the complaint isn’t resolved on the first try, all of those details, along with the original complaint, will be relayed to the next person they speak with. Overall, this means more time goes into handling a single complaint while the customer becomes more and more dissatisfied.

4. Recap their problem so that everyone is on the same page. Miscommunication shouldn’t be the reason for a customer’s unhappiness.

5. Clearly explain what the next steps will be. How will you handle the complaint? When will you get back to the customer? How will you contact them?

6. Find a long-term solution. What can you do about the complaint that will allow you to retain and grow your client base? To create a long-term strategy for fixing problems in your system, take a look at what has worked. Use productive practices as a model and, when possible, apply those actions to your less efficient strategies.