A question for Call Centre leaders everywhere: Does any company have a rewarding IVR experience? Seriously, if you think about every automated interaction you've ever had, is there any one worth bragging about? I thought long and hard and in my humble opinion I do not know of one.
For the uneducated, IVR simply means Interactive Voice Response and is the person you hear when greeted by nearly every mid - large size organization on the planet. Whether you are greeted and given options to press or can actually interact with this voice (something we call speech recognition) depends on who you call. In almost all cases, IVR experiences are unnatural and often frustrate us to no end. Now, I will say this, those organizations that make it at least easy to move through the IVR, provide us with an option to transact (e.g. banking) and most importantly make it easy to speak with a live person deserve some praise. There are several companies, Canadian banks in particular, who do this well. The issue most of us have, myself included, is that too often I am either given far too many choices and moreover have too hard a time reaching a live person. Also, if I am asked to enter information in the IVR to validate my identity, please do not have me do this all over again if I do speak with a live person - This is a bad to way to start what could already be a frustrating customer experience. To simplify things I offer this tips to all companies using an IVR:
I know this a hot topic and there are many opinions out there and I welcome your comments below. Don't forget to like us on facebook and follow us on twitter! Talk soon!
4 Comments
10/9/2013 03:21:18 am
The allure of self service and IVR' self service in particular has been to provide a more convenient, hopefully, way of doing things. The analogy of ATM's is fair, you can interact with a machine or wait in line for a teller. With an IVR you can do things: route your call or provide self service when the center is closed or queue length may be long. I echo your sentiments regarding the experience, in most instances it is mechanical and un-friendly. Traditional IVR' designers can benefit from your guidance.
Reply
10/9/2013 01:48:06 pm
The point of successful IVRs is simplicity. Every organization should recognize that voice is the most important channel, and not abuse it. Many (and increasingly in certain industries, most) customers try to self serve through the web and mobile apps.
Reply
Bryan Socransky
10/15/2013 02:58:44 am
Let's remember what the reward is that the customer is expecting to get from the IVR experience. It's the ability to get an answer or do something fast. Lots of bad press and negative sentiment about IVRs but without them people would be sitting on hold waiting for a customer service rep for hours.
Reply
4/19/2022 08:27:46 am
ICON Legal Services provides its best family lawyer in Chennai, family law matters including divorce, adoption, child custody, surrogacy, dowry harassments, domestic violence, probate, Will and inheritance.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorEli Federman Archives
January 2018
|