Getting the Most Out of Your IVR

Making the move to an IVR is a significant step toward improving customer satisfaction. Rather than providing a rudimentary auto attendant and hoping they get the right person, IVRs give customers the best chance of resolving their calls by collecting more information from the user to customize the call routing. As good as IVRs are, not all IVRs are created equal. Make sure you don’t ignore these 7 things to get the most out of your IVR.

#1 Keep it Simple.

Think of your IVR as a GPS. The goal of the IVR is to get the customer from Point A to Point B in the most efficient way possible. Sending your customers down random, unnecessary roads or giving confusing directions will increase their frustration. Design your IVR menu in a simple and straightforward way, with clear and concise instructions.

#2 Use Self-Service Options.

Sometimes the best customer call is one where they never speak to an employee. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes – how often have you tried to solve something yourself like finding an answer or performing a task online? As it turns out, 77% of customers say they like a brand more if they provide self-service options. Connect your IVR to your system of record to let customers perform routine tasks such as checking account balances or making payments. This will allow callers to complete tasks quickly and easily, without the need for agent assistance.

#3 Make it personal – in a good way.

Today’s on-demand economy has made personalization the norm. Your customers are getting personalized recommendations for things like what movies to watch, what clothes to wear, and what music they should listen to next. IVRs can help you personalize your customer calls. For instance, use caller identification to personalize the IVR experience to provide customized options based on their previous interactions.

#4 Speak your customer’s language.

Every business seems to have its own language with acronyms, slang, and industry jargon. While your business language may make sense to you because you live in that world every day, it’s likely to confuse a customer. For example, imagine a restaurant had these prompts in its IVR:

“Thanks for calling the Pelican Cantina. Press 1 to reserve a 4-top or more, press 2 to know what’s been 86ed, Press 3 to fire a pickup order.”

You may be able to discern what’s being said, but most customers wouldn’t unless they were a server or chef in the past. This is why you need to make sure you review your IVR prompts to ensure they are incredibly simple.

#5 Monitor and optimize.

Speaking of reviewing, your supervisors need to pay close attention to IVR performance and customer sentiment so they can keep improving the IVR experience. Most Contact Centers should have dashboards and reports that can help. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to improve your IVR experience as well by making it easier for supervisors to get insights from customer calls. Rather than randomly spot-checking calls, supervisors can search customer calls based on sentiment or key phrases that have the most impact on the business.

Check out Intermedia Contact Center’s Interaction Analytics to learn more:

#6 Tie to your system of record.

There’s a lot to gain by tying your IVR to your system of record (e.g., your CRM). Customers can be sent to the right frontline user based on their number or the information they provide rather than jump through additional IVR menus. Once connected to a customer, frontline users can leverage the customer records to fast-track verification, quickly gain context, or remind the customer of an outstanding issue.

Improve your IVR today with Intermedia Contact Center

Getting an IVR up and running may seem daunting, but just remember the first item on this list – keep it simple. For many businesses, a simple IVR setup is all that’s necessary to have a great customer experience. Whether you’re looking for a simple IVR setup or looking for something more advanced, Intermedia Contact Center can help you deliver the best experience for your customers.

Click here to check out how to set up a simple IVR using Intermedia’s Easy IVR.

Overall, getting the most out of your IVR requires careful planning, design, and optimization. By following these tips, you can create an IVR system that provides a positive customer experience, improves efficiency, and meets the specific needs of your business.

Rob Oscanyan

Robert Oscanyan is a Senior Director of Product Marketing at Intermedia, where he focuses on helping businesses improve their customer experience using Intermedia's award-winning cloud communications solutions. Rob has over a decade of experience spanning market research, messaging, and elevating the voice of the customer. In his free time, he constantly creating new adventures with his wife, seven kids, and a small army of pets.