What are the reasons a customer would stop buying from a brand? A survey revealed that a poor telephone customer experience ranks second after high prices. A poor experience includes rude agents (59%), long wait times (58%), and too many transfers (58%) as the top three reasons. These are at least 2 out of 3 aspects that a good IVR (Interactive Voice Response) tool can address.
In this article, we will explore in detail the importance of IVR in the customer service strategy, highlighting its benefits and best practices for its effective implementation. Additionally, we will examine how good omnichannel software complements IVR to provide a complete and consistent customer experience.
What is an IVR in the contact center, and why is it important?
IVR is an automated system that allows customers to interact with a company through voice commands or telephone keypad inputs, rather than speaking directly with a human agent.
One of the main metrics that benefits from the use of IVR is the “call abandonment rate.” Being on hold is a passive experience, and we have all experienced hanging up calls after waiting too long. Generally speaking, the acceptable average abandonment rate is 5%, which indicates that below 5% is considered good customer service, while above 5% is considered problematic.
This is the formula used to calculate the abandonment rate:
In addition to addressing the call abandonment rate, an IVR offers a range of key benefits:
- 24/7 availability: It allows customers to access basic services and obtain information even outside of business hours, improving availability and convenience.
- Efficient call routing: IVR can automatically direct calls to the appropriate department or agent based on customer needs, reducing wait times and increasing operational efficiency.
- Reduction of workloads: By automatically handling simple inquiries, IVR frees up agents to address more complex issues, improving the overall productivity of the contact center.
- Personalisation: Through integration with CRMs, IVR can personalise interactions based on the customer’s history, offering a more relevant and satisfying experience. Additionally, it collects information that the agent can use, if needed, to provide a superior experience.
- Cost reduction: By automating basic tasks, IVR helps to reduce operational costs while maintaining or improving service quality. Everything will depend on the time you dedicate to the design and programming of the IVR flows. Do not underestimate this step!
- Scalability: IVR is highly scalable and can handle a large volume of simultaneous calls, making it ideal for growing businesses.
IVR & AI
In addition to the inherent capabilities of IVR to automate interactions and improve efficiency in the contact center, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming this technology to an unimaginable extent. AI enables IVR to understand and process customers’ natural language in a more sophisticated way, resulting in more natural and effective interactions.
By using techniques such as natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, AI-enabled IVRs can resolve complex queries, anticipate customer needs, and provide contextual and personalised responses. This convergence between artificial intelligence and IVR is taking customer service to a higher level, offering a more satisfying and efficient experience for both customers and contact center agents.
The combination of AI and IVR represents the future of customer service, where technology works in harmony to deliver optimal results and exceptional experiences.
Best practices for implementing an IVR effectively
Here are some recommendations to get the maximum benefit from your IVR:
- Intuitive design: The IVR structure should be clear and easy to navigate. Provide concise and well-organised options to guide customers to quick answers. You can rely on feedback from your customers and agents regarding their experiences and perceptions during the process.
- Personalisation: Use the IVR to identify customers and offer personalised options based on their history and preferences.
- Regular updates: Keep the IVR up to date with accurate and relevant information. Outdated or incorrect options frustrate customers and damage the company’s reputation—the opposite of what we want to achieve!
- Integration with other channels: The IVR should seamlessly integrate with other customer service channels, such as live chat or email, to offer a consistent omnichannel experience. And, of course, the option to contact an agent by phone should always be readily available. Don’t leave your customers stuck in an endless loop of options.
The perfect match: omnichannel platform and IVR
An omnichannel software like EVOLUTION offers you, in addition to the IVR tool, the integration of all the communication channels you need in your contact center (phone, live chat, email, social media, instant messaging, chatbot) on a single platform. The combined operation of all these channels generates these benefits and many more:
- Consistency in experience: Customers can interact with the company through multiple channels (IVR, live chat, social media, etc.) in a consistent and seamless manner.
- Customer intelligence: The software uses customer data collected from various sources to provide more personalised and effective responses through the IVR.
- Integrated analytics: The metrics and analytics provided by the omnichannel software enable companies to continuously optimise and improve the effectiveness of the IVR and other customer service channels.
In conclusion, by implementing a quality omnichannel software like EVOLUTION, which offers the IVR tool integrated into its standard license, your company can deliver exceptional experiences to strengthen customer loyalty and drive long-term business growth.
Conclusions
A voice assistant in the call center alleviates the friction and frustration of callers’ daily requests and helps companies avoid delays in response times during periods of high call volume.
With current AI, the virtual assistant answers your customers’ questions directly on the front end and provides your agents with the information and resources they need on the back end. The path towards perfecting real-time self-service and artificial intelligence assistance in customer service offers enormous opportunities for forward-looking companies.
