How to improve IVR menu options for better service
There is always scope for improving customer service but somehow most companies seem unwilling to change their processes or systems to provide better service to their customers.
For example, whenever you dial a call center, the first thing you would hear is the IVR menu. The options in this IVR menu could change from time to time. This forces the customer to listen to all the menu options each time, making him spend more time and money on the call. This can be resolved by adopting the thumb rule of implementing an IVR menu with not more that 4-5 option. The other option is to permanently fix the IVR menu options. Neither solution is ideally suited to business needs. So, what is the real solution?
One option can be to keep customers updated with the menu options beforehand through SMS or emails so that they can dial all the options in one go instead of listening to the entire menu.
Another way is to use speech technology. With this, businesses will list out or broadcast a list of key words or phrases to use upon dialing the call center. The customer can speak out the menu option after dialing the call center number which will take them directly to the respective service/menu option.
These solutions will definitely make life easier for most customers, but most companies would want customers to wait on the call for some time so that new promotions and offers can be announced during the wait or hold time. So, which is a better approach to service?
Another common issue that occurs is calls getting disconnected when a customer is busy discussing some issue with an agent. In such a situation, the customer cannot speak to the same agent when he dials in again and has to discuss the same issue all over again with new agent. This result in frustration and a good amount of time and money wasted in the call. In my opinion, this problem can be solved in 3 ways: 1) Agent should call back to the customer. But companies would not like to adopt this solution as it would increase cost to the company 2) Through the system, associate the disconnected customer phone number to the agent who serviced the call for some stipulated time, say about 5-10 minutes, so that if same customer dials in again he will get connected to the same agent or at least the system can offer an option to the customer to connect with another agent or to wait 3) agent should be given small ID/number instead of name which can be punched in during the IVR menu to get to the same agent.
I am sure that if companies think on these lines and view the entire interaction from the customer’s perspective, they can come up with many more solutions and ways to provide superior service.
