An IVR system can be an extremely useful tool in delivering your customers excellent customer service when it is implemented properly. You might have heard negative things said about IVR systems as customers are passed from department to department because the automated menu system isn’t sending them through to the appropriate person to deal with their query, however, this frustration is only a result of poorly designed IVR systems. We’re here to tell you what is so great about a sophisticated IVR system and how it can benefit you and your customers.

1. Personalisation for the Customer

Using an IVR system might make you think that you’re losing the human touch in your successful customer service process, but that just isn’t the case. Even though you are using a machine for interaction you can still add that personal touch for the customer to make them feel like you care. A personalised greeting or prompt is a great way to seamlessly transfer the caller to a live agent who can then deal with the customer direct.

2. Automated Operations

Free up your agents from standardised processes that are mundane and can clog up their precious time when they could be spending time better serving customers who require detailed information. Give customers the ability to serve themselves and obtain all of the simple information that they need to solve their issues through your expertly set up IVR system.

3. Inbound Call Capacity Increase

With an IVR system your business can handle higher call volumes as all calls coming in are efficiently transferred to the correct department and live agent who are best equipped to handle the customer’s issues. Wait times and queue lengths are comparatively shorter than those which do not have an IVR system due to the inefficiency of their processes.

4. Cost Effective

Improving the operational efficiency and productivity of your agents can sometimes prove to be costly whether that be through extensive training or new expensive processes, however, IVR systems are easy on the pocket and are a simple, cost effective solution. Eliminate the need for intermediary agents or receptionists who are there to route the call to the correct person or department with an IVR system and cut down on human error.

5. More First Call Resolution

Customers tend to find that the most frustrating thing about call centres is the amount of times you get passed around departments and different agents before they get to the right one and are able to get the answers they need. An IVR system’s intelligent call routing will ensure that this is kept to a minimum and customers reach who they need to solve their problem first time, keeping call times short and sweet.

6. Increased Customer Satisfaction

As your efficient IVR system directs calls to the right agent or department first time it is much more likely that your customers are going to get the information they need and their issues solved both quickly and on their first call to you. Also, with customers being able to answer simple queries themselves with the IVR system the quality of the customer service that they are receiving means

There are many organisations and industries that are required to record their telephone conversations, whether that be legally or because of compliance guidelines set out for a specific service. This is quite common in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, finance and legal services, however, call recording can benefit many other industries as well.

Recording your calls can help your business to improve its customer service through training and continuous review of the calls to assess the level of service they deliver. It can also be used as evidence and help keep record of verbal contracts among other things. Here’s why any company that conducts any business or provides customer service over the phone should record their calls.

Customer Satisfaction

The interaction between a call centre agent and a customer is so important, the agent’s actions can make or break the customer’s experience. One wrong step could result in lost business or an angry customer who might write about their experience on social media which can create a bad image for your company, no one is attracted to a company who is known for giving bad customer service. Call recording is the only way that management can check whether the agents are doing their job properly or not.

Real-time call barging doesn’t cover every customer interaction, yes management can step in on a bad call but it isn’t practical for a manager to barge in on every call. It’s also possible that if a manager is listening in that the agent will be on their best behaviour, and as soon as they finish monitoring them they could revert back to giving bad customer service.

Training

Whether you’re training new staff or improving the skill of your current agents, call recording is a great tool for demonstrating what to do and what not to do during customer interaction on the phone. There’s nothing like learning from real situations, you might have recorded staged conversations or include a roleplay section in your training but how often do these scenarios play out like a real interaction? Recording your calls allows you to capture every type of call and customer that you may encounter, this can help you to prepare your staff for eventualities that they might not have even thought of.

Using real calls will also help you to train your staff and teach them how your organisation specifically should interact on the phone with customers, what your company standards are and what you expect of them.

Elimination of ‘He Said, She Said’

Misunderstandings can easily arise when speaking on the phone with someone, whether that is answering a customer’s question or negotiating terms of a contract, and accusations can be made by angry customers. In all of these situations call recording is so useful, it helps to shed light on a confusing situation and clarify what actually was said, without call recording it is one person’s word against another’s. In the case of the angry customer they may ask for the call to be escalated to a supervisor who hasn’t heard any part of the previous conversation, they have to make a judgement whether to trust the customer is telling the complete truth. With a record of the call the supervisor can review what actually happened, can make a decision on how to proceed and whether the agent was at fault and whether they need to be corrected.

Compliance

Depending on your industry call recording may be required as set out by service compliance guidelines as set by the FSA for example, or even laws set by the government. Businesses within the financial sector have to record all of their verbal communications, and banks, brokers, insurance and other financial companies are heavily monitored and regulated by the government and private organisations. Companies who take payment over the phone are also required record calls to maintain their PCI DSS compliance.

 

C3’s PhonepayPlus (PPP) approved call recording solution is a flexible application that can grow and evolve with your business. For more information about our Call Recording Systems and Solutions please contact our team.