Why You Need a Smarter IVR

IF your CRM and business systems know everything about your customer’s actions.

And your IVR knows what your CRM and business systems know about your customer’s actions.

Therefore, your IVR knows everything about your customer’s actions with you.

If your customer just made a payment or a purchase, your IVR knows it. If your customer had a recent support experience that didn’t end in FCR (First Call Resolution), your IVR knows it. If there have been changes to your customer’s account, or if your customer has a late payment, or even if your customer abandoned an online shopping cart, the IVR knows it—because your CRM and business system knows it.

Why, then, do so many IVRs treat their callers like they know nothing at all about them? As if each call was the first time they ever heard of their 20-year, Platinum Account customer. As if the IVR was a perpetually erased slate?

Here are some of the things your IVR should know, and what it can do with that knowledge.

Personal Information
No IVR should fail to know the caller’s name, as long as they can gather it from the ANI and authentication. But there’s a lot more it can say than just name; it can go a long way towards growing the personal connection between the caller and the IVR.

We see you have a birthday this month. Happy Birthday Mr. Wilson.

Recent Actions
The IVR should know about the most recent actions that the customer has taken. If he recently made a purchase or bought a product that’s in delivery, that’s the first thing to ask:

Are you checking on your recent purchase?
Would you like for us to email the tracking number?

Habitual Behavior
If your customer calls on a regular basis to question statements or bills (some do that like clockwork), that’s something the IVR can be proactive about.

Are you calling for questions about your statement, can we read that to you?

Alerts
The IVR may know something about the account—an unusual charge, a low or negative balance, or an updated and improved credit score.

You’ve earned mileage points this month. Would you like to hear your balance?

Opportunities
Don’t forget to do some selling—when the time is right. Make it relevant—a caller who buys, for instance, a case of dog food a month will save $X if they buy three (which will also save you shipping costs). If you see it’s your customers wedding anniversary this month, offer them a discount on jewelry or flowers.

Your HVAC is ready for a 6-month service. Should I make an appointment for you?

Your IVR can’t do as much with customer information as a live agent can. But that doesn’t mean it should act as if the customer is a stranger. Call Center Pros can bring the right OmniChannel software to your Call Center.

Please contact us for any call center technology need or telecom challenge.

Thank you,
James Wilson, CEO
Call Center Pros
+1-404 936 4000
james@call-center-pros.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jameswwilson