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Customers Choose IVR Service Providers with the Rise of Self-Service

By Amanda Ciccatelli, TMCnet Web Editor

Self-service is now a more viable option than ever before with Internet, IVRs and mobile apps. Done correctly, self-service is an effective tool that will pick quicker, remote technologies than the time-consuming effort of human interaction.

There are many positive outcomes in getting self-service right. A successful self-service strategy can make a substantial improvement to a business. A self-service interaction should also cost very little once the technology is set up, compared to the cost of a similar transaction with a live customer service representative.

Looking at it from the customer's perspective, a positive self service interaction can make customers feel more engaged with the company. When self-service is successful, the customer leaves thinking that "Wow, that was really easy.” Sometimes a customer wants to talk to someone, but often all they want to do is get something paid, amended or fixed quickly, and self-service can get handle that for them.

According to a recent survey of 227 US IT decision-makers by Enghouse Interactive (News - Alert), automated systems and self-service interactions were important to 55 percent of companies, while automated and self-service systems were the dominant form of customer interaction in just 14 percent of companies. That being said, most companies think self-service is important, but few have made it a main form of customer interaction.

The survey also showed that preference for self-service has clear dividing lines across age groups. Among the older generation, the idea of not talking to a real person when making a payment or altering a service can be frustrating. For younger people, particularly those who have grown up not knowing a world before the Internet, the absence of an online system or a quick IVR system, will be perceived fairly negatively.

This means that self-service will likely undergo a consistent push towards the front of customer interactions in the future. So with this in mind, how can you prepare a solid self-service strategy? A recent article about self service on CMSWire.com shares a few tips about an effective self service strategy.

First, companies should prioritize the self-service channel from the perspective of the customer. For example, with an IVR system, give a limited number of options at each stage. If you are giving 8 or 9 options, it will be overkill for the caller.

Also, you need to be sensitive to the time and concentration it takes to listen to and remember a large number of options. The majority of customers need to deal with just two or three functions, so make sure those functions are the easily found whether it is via IVR, an Internet-based system or a mobile app.

Finally, with the example of an IVR, test your IVR flow with real people before putting it into production. If testing is only done with people involved in the IVR project or customer services, the testing phase may not highlight the problems that an outsider would notice.