Improving Experience &

Efficiency

through your IVR

May 17 2012

What to expect from

this presentation?

Learn from our experience of working on a wide

range of IVR projects. Be first to hear what

consumers have told us about their likes and

dislikes

Why IVR Matters

Why efficiency AND experience can go together

It is the emotional and

psychological

relationship you have with

your customers

(Jay Ehret, Marketing Blog Spot)

This applies to us all regardless of what we do,

public, private or charity

ADVOCACY

The Holy Grail?

Attachment to the

brand is a means to

increase consumer

loyalty

(Chaudhuri &Holbrook, 2001)

Attitudinal loyalty

and/or behavioural

loyalty then advocacy

IVR

What is an IVR?

What does IVR stand for?

IVR is the

FIRST THING a

customer hears

when they call

IVR is

YOUR

customer experience

What makes up an IVR?

Mamma’s Best IVR muffins

100g The structure / call flow / design

100g Functionality (DTMF, voice rec, self serve)

20g Routing

60ml The scripts

125g Voice messages

1 ½ tsp Music

All combine to create the

sound of your IVR - therefore the sound of your brand

The Power of Sound

The Power of Sound

Sound affects Feelings & Emotions,

Feelings & Emotions drive behaviour. (Baumeister et al., 2007)

We are trying to influence behaviour

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/julian_treasure_the_4_ways_sound_affects_us.html

Where does this fit with IVR?

IVR is your SOUND – what

callers hear and interact

with

IVR OF

Stretch your legs? Comfort Break

White Paper

Why did we decide to

commission a white

paper?

Does the pre agent

experience

affect customer’s

overall satisfaction?

We thought we have to investigate

this in more detail but make

the report :

Independent

Rigorous

Unbiaised

Our study was conducted

online.

Over 1000 participants

responded (35% female- 65% male)

Independent question

design, data gathering and

analysis

University of Roehampton

Phd student

Methodology

Emotion causes behaviour. Emotion affects behaviour

(action, perception, decision making, learning & memory)

FIGHT FLIGHT

Stress triggers

fight or flight

(remember the cortisol?)

This leads to

Undesirable

behaviours

Question 1

How do you usually

communicate with

organisations

when you have a

enquiry?

Result

50% Phone

32.6% Email

13% Website

4.3% Store

50% of the participants

rated phone as their most

common means of

communication

Question 2

How do you usually

communicate with

organisations when

your enquiry

becomes more

complex?

Result

+41.3% switch to

phone meaning

91.3% in total would

use the phone when

the enquiry is more

complex

What implications

does this have for your

contact strategy?

Discussion point

Question 3

We then asked

responders to pick

which

customer service

issues frustrate

them from a

list

93% Having to speak

with multiple agents

93% Being kept on hold

for a long period

88.4% Not getting what I

need on the first

attempt

70% Poor sound quality

70% Inappropriate

messages

Result

How does this compare

with your figures?

Question 4

What actions do you

take if you

experience those

issues?

56% are extremely

likely to hang up and

abandon the call

72% of those who hang

up are extremely likely

not to call you back

90% will switch provider

Result

What Implications

does this have for

your business?

Customer Cost

Customers are happy to pay a 10% premium for

excellent customer service rather than experiencing

frustrations and negative emotions (American

Express, July 2011).

It costs five times as much to

acquire a new customer as it

does to keep one (Peters, 1987)

Customer Cost

Question 5

Who do you tell when

you have a bad

Experience?

90% will share with friends and

family (9-10 people on average

and 13% will tell over 20)

Result

65% are highly likely to post on

social networks (the average

facebook user has 130 friends so

word spreads fast

Result

Question 6

What would you like to

hear when on hold

or in

queue?

Expected wait time 86%

Position in queue 69%

Relevant messages 60%

Result

Question 7

How do you react when

you have a positive

experience?

84% Give immediate

feedback to the person

who resolved the enquiry

86% stay loyal

79.1% tell friends & family

32.6% post on social

networks

Result

Happy Callers, Happy Staff Positive feedback from callers helps the agents to

overcome the emotional exhaustion they may go

through which consequently will increase their

job satisfaction and commitment to the

organisation as well as reducing the percentage

of absenteeism & intention to resign (Grebnel et al., 2003).

Coffee break

In groups

discuss what

we have

learned so far

and relate it

to your own

experience

Round Table

Discussion

Advocacy

Attachment to the brand is a

means to increase

consumer loyalty

(Chaudhuri &Holbrook, 2001)

Advocacy –

The Holy

Grail?

attitudinal loyalty and/or behavioural loyalty

then advocacy

this also has a positive

effect on willingness to

pay more, and

encourages others to

use the products; it is

also negatively related

to an increase in

returning the product

Advocacy

Why is advocacy so valuable?

• Positive effect on willingness to pay more, and

• encourages others to use the products; it is also

• related to a decrease in returning the product.

This is the reason why having loyal customers who

can be considered as fans of a brand or company, is

one of the most important goals a business may

have. A loyal customer does more than any advert can

for a business, they become promoters – someone

who would answer ‘yes to the ultimate question –

would you recommend us to a friend.

Summary

The results suggest that there is a correlation

between a positive pre agent experience and the

successful or unsuccessful outcome of that call.

What happens to callers in the welcome, menu

options and in queue or on hold experience –

generates emotional reactions and subsequent

behavioural changes.

We know what customers have told us

Is there a gap between them & industry

professionals?

Abandoned calls

Right first time routing

First call resolution

Call transfers

Acceptance of self serve

Call deflection to other channels

Operational Impact

Operational Impact – Case Study 1

Situation

A major financial services brand came to us for

help with reducing the number of call transfers

they were having to make.

Customer satisfaction was low and each transfer

was costing time and money.

Operational Impact – Case Study 2

Situation

One of the largest consumer electronics retailers

in Europe with 5 brands under one roof

Shifted calls from stores to central contact

centre and started to experience high caller

abandonment, below target sales and poor

customer sat scores

Auditing

Dial in and have

a listen

Create a human experience

not a robotic one

Create a tone of voice that reflects

your brand and service values

Strip away unnecessary layers of IVR

Use words that mean the same to your customers

If there is a wait time deliver personalised,

and relevant content

exclusive and this study shows that they are in fact

Summary

Understanding underlying caller frustration, the

behaviours they cause and what we can do to

influence them will help us to design and produce

caller experiences that generates desirable

behaviours from both a customer experience and

operational perspective.

These two aspects are sometimes seen as mutually

complementary

Experience AND

Efficiency?

Example

Every caller who reaches the right place

first time is positive for the customer (93% of

them)

and is a cheaper call

to handle.

We can positively influence the behaviour of our

customers when they get in touch if

we do the right things.

(However, if we do the wrong things we will create negative behaviours)

Abandoned calls

Right first time routing

First call resolution

Call transfers

Acceptance of self serve

Call deflection to other channels

ROI Factors

Business Case For Change

Understanding the

business case for

change is crucial in

this climate. Make

sure you know what

each elements

costs you

Build a

Business Case

If you do make changes,

communicate them internally

and with customers.

Sign post the different choices

and explain why if necessary

Communicate changes

IVR doesn't just impact telephony

We saw earlier how positive customer feedback increases agent job

satisfaction, and commitment to the organisation as well as reducing the

percentage of absenteeism and intention to resign

This means the IVR has wider consequences and can add even more

value to the organisation as a whole

On the way home dial in to your

main numbers and listen to the

experience in relation to the

discussion today.

What will you do differently?

Listen to your

experience

Any questions on what we have covered so far?

My name is Rick Kirkham

Email me rick@brandaudio.co.uk

Or call me on 020 8931 9300

Thank you for listening