3 Innovative Ways to Use IVR Technology to Improve Customer Service
If your company uses an interactive voice response (IVR) system to manage incoming calls, you already know how valuable the technology is for running your business. With IVR technology, you can save time and money by routing calls to the appropriate departments and ensure that customers can reach the right people within the organization.
Yet, IVR can do more than direct callers to specific departments or people. Here are three ways you can start using IVR technology to assist your customers and learn more about how you can improve their experience with your company.
1. Appointment Reminders
A lot can happen between the moment a customer schedules an appointment and the time they’re supposed to show. This is especially true if you schedule appointments weeks or months in advance. Your customers can forget they scheduled the appointment and may double book their time.
Missed appointments can cost companies up to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. You can mitigate this loss by using IVR to remind customers of their appointments and provide them a way to notify you if they have to cancel or reschedule the appointment. You’ll be able to offer that time to another customer.
Call Deflection
Sometimes it’s more efficient to take callers out of the queue and transfer them to SMS instead of directing them to a live person. For example, a customer who needs to schedule a service may only need to know what day and time someone is available. You can set up your IVR system to automatically set up the appointment.
You may also ask callers if they want to receive updates about their service calls via text instead of waiting to speak to someone. This type of communication appeals to customers who prefer not talking to a live person. Not only does this keep those customers happy, but it also frees up your phone lines and your representatives to assist other callers.
Surveys
Customer feedback is an important tool for improving the customer experience. IVR technology makes it easy to gather information from the people actively using your products or services. Through IVR-driven surveys they can rate their experience with employees, express their satisfaction with the products or services you offer or offer suggestions for improving operations.
IVR makes it possible to collect this information in real-time so you get more valid responses. You’ll catch customers immediately after they’ve interacted with employees or used your products and services. You can then adjust operations as needed so you can better meet your customers’ needs.
Happy customers are repeat customers. CallerReady offers an assortment of tools that help you scale your business so your customers get the service they deserve. Explore our products and services featuring IVR technology at www.callerready.com or call 877-800-4844 to speak to a representative.