An abused tool called IVR
I love my bank’s website because it allows me to check my statements, pay bills, transfer funds etc very easily. But sometimes when I have a super special requirement or a question, I am forced to contact the call center. Going though the bank’s IVR is like a game of Monopoly. Here’s why-
1) Getting to the right agent is like getting to the right square on the board. Little to the left or to the right can be dangerous.
2) Punching the right combination of ATM Debit Card Number, Pin Number, Birth Date and other stuff is like rolling the right numbers.
3) If you fat finger the wrong code, you could simply end up in jail and wait for ever to get out of it. And even if you get all the combinations right, you may have to wait for several minutes to get you turn.
4) And finally, you need to devote sufficient time, maybe an entire Saturday’s afternoon, to know the result. IVR like Monopoly is not for the Jerry in a hurry!
I have an account at another branch and their IVR is worse. No matter what pin numbers and debit card numbers I dial, I usually find myself going down a one way street to jail. It’s like playing Monopoly blindfolded!
My immediate action plan for the banks would be-
a) flatten the IVR to not more than 3 branches and 3 options per branch with one of them being the option to talk to the agent b) inform the customers upfront of the expected wait times for both self service and service via live agent c) constantly look for ways to flatten the IVR, like training agents to handle any kind of service calls.
Banks and other institutions have implemented the right tools the wrong way. As a result of which, their applications help them keep track of data, increase visibility and improve efficiency at Customer Management. But in the process they have missed out on the Relationship part. So many companies are yet to get the combination of Customer, Relationship and Management right and so at least for now- the conclusion is that CRM is still a differentiation factor.
1) Getting to the right agent is like getting to the right square on the board. Little to the left or to the right can be dangerous.
2) Punching the right combination of ATM Debit Card Number, Pin Number, Birth Date and other stuff is like rolling the right numbers.
3) If you fat finger the wrong code, you could simply end up in jail and wait for ever to get out of it. And even if you get all the combinations right, you may have to wait for several minutes to get you turn.
4) And finally, you need to devote sufficient time, maybe an entire Saturday’s afternoon, to know the result. IVR like Monopoly is not for the Jerry in a hurry!
I have an account at another branch and their IVR is worse. No matter what pin numbers and debit card numbers I dial, I usually find myself going down a one way street to jail. It’s like playing Monopoly blindfolded!
My immediate action plan for the banks would be-
a) flatten the IVR to not more than 3 branches and 3 options per branch with one of them being the option to talk to the agent b) inform the customers upfront of the expected wait times for both self service and service via live agent c) constantly look for ways to flatten the IVR, like training agents to handle any kind of service calls.
Banks and other institutions have implemented the right tools the wrong way. As a result of which, their applications help them keep track of data, increase visibility and improve efficiency at Customer Management. But in the process they have missed out on the Relationship part. So many companies are yet to get the combination of Customer, Relationship and Management right and so at least for now- the conclusion is that CRM is still a differentiation factor.
Comments
Very apt observation Kasturi. My additional thought is that the companies are now going a notch higher by integrating speech recognition systems with the IVRs. I would be interested to know the CSAT surveys with such systems but my personal view is that more often than not, it ends up annoying the poor caller. Companies must surely do some data mining to find the call drop rate before reaching to the agent. It would be good to know the results....
Posted by: Vishal Mani | June 17, 2009 05:27 PM