1800 Numbers: Setting Up An IVR Menu

Call routing IVR (Interactive Voice Response) menus are a brilliant way to manage your 1800 number incoming calls. This feature helps strengthen the efficiency of your service as it lowers the call wait periods and transfers to wrong people and departments. Be that as it may, it might also cause some customers to feel alienated if it isn’t programmed correctly. So how should you set up a IVR menu for 1800 numbers that will be highly effective? Let’s take a look at some suggestions below.

Categorise Incoming 1800 Number Calls

The initial phase in preparing your IVR menu is to distinguish who your customers are and the objectives you need accomplished during each call. Think about what your callers would be calling for and how you plan to guide them through the menus toward a great resolution to their issues. Do you plan to organise plenty of menu options to get them to a specific all destination or will they need to speak with someone with fewer options to get to the agent? Attempt to make a run-down of your customers’ needs and utilise that to sort out and organise your menu options.

Keep It Short And Simple

Make calling your 1800 number a consistent call experience for every customer. Limit your menu choices to up to 3 levels. Getting through your menu options shouldn’t take over 30 seconds. Any more than this and you are running the risk of losing customers due to the shorter attention span and patience of most callers.

Studies have continued to prove that a customer is usually happier with self-service options if they are functioning smoothly. Remember to leave a menu option available for those concerns that don’t happen to be listed in the menu. For the customers that are possibly going to have a hard time with menu options due to unforeseen issues, allow an option for them to skip the menu and speak with a live agent immediately.

Mind Your Language

Be polite, but don’t go over the top with it. Thanking a customer after every single action isn’t necessary. However, don’t forget to thank them for things like being patient during long holding periods. Don’t have customers constantly hearing a message that says “All lines are busy at the moment”. That message should be used sparingly and only when necessary. Every call should be handled with the same type of care that would be present if the call were a face to face conversation instead.

Abstain from offering too much advice and instruction to the point of going overboard and reword information instead of having agents repeat the exact same things more than once. If you have customers input information as part of the menu options, make sure to not ask them to repeat the same information once they have reached a live person. Don’t instruct customers to visit websites and social media pages for resolution. Most likely, they have already attempted to use those and are now opting to place the call to speak with someone.

Testing And Feedback

Find someone that doesn’t know anything about your business and have them to test your IVR menu set-up. Always have a time set aside each year to analyse and re-evaluate your IVR system and make necessary improvements according to new customer and business needs.

When menu options are being updated, make sure to hire a professional to do the recording and updating. The voice you use for your business needs to be warm, have different tones and sound polite at the same time. Reaching out to our team at Com2 is a great way to get the best information on which 1800 number to choose and the IVR menu set-up. Connect with us now by clicking here or calling 1300 887 495.

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