Cory has started a thread below encouraging people to share their IVR pet peeves. I want to open up a thread to explore the flip side - times when an IVR really gets things right.

I opened a new savings account a few months back, and this weekend called the bank for the first time. The first thing their IVR did right was immediately tell me how many people were ahead of me in the queue, and then offer me the choice of live or self service.

Since I hadn't been able to find the answer to my question on the website, I chose to wait for live service, and it was after my call was answered by an agent that the bank really distinguished itself. The representative asked me for my account number, and then briefly transferred me back to the IVR to enter my PIN number - the same two pieces of information I use to authenticate myself in all my interactions with the bank, and something I felt much more comfortable doing in a potentially public environment than giving the agent my social security number and mother's maiden name.

Share your favorite IVR experience in the comments below.

Continue reading "Sometimes, automated customer service makes me feel good" »

Posted by Amy at 10:37 AM | Permalink

I'm fed up with automated customer service that treats me like I'm a v-e-r-y s-l-o-w minded person. If I'm calling a company there is a reason for it:

1. I can't find the information I need online (or I need it clarified).
2. I can't complete the transaction I want to complete online.
3. I have a billing dispute that is complex and I don't feel like writing a letter or e-mail (like anyone reads those really).
4. Some inquiry that requires some sort of human reasoning.

I really think most customers don't like how most of the automated systems treat them (and I've blogged about what they're doing to get around them before). I know I don't. What drives me nuts? My top 5:

1. Non-interruptible prompts telling me to go to the website to get my answers (see #1 and #2 above, duh!)
2. Bragging about all the "basic" things you can do on the website (oooh.. see your bill)
3. Reminding me that I really shouldn't hold on the line because their website is available.
4. Suggesting that I can get out of queue, leave a voicemail and get a return call (this doesn't work most of the time, just like email doesn't often work)
5. Prompting me to put me into the right queue then having an operator ask me the same questions the IVR just did (Verizon has been doing this for months, and it's a big pain).

Why not personalize the call (and the on-hold prompts)? The company knows how often I call; they probably know how old I am (or could find out with a quick check of their records); and I they can guess why I'm calling. I'd use their website to set my IVR preferences. Put me in a behavioral demographic and guess how to treat me correctly for crying out loud! Look at when and why I called the last 3 times and guess why I'm calling this time. Don't make me feel like one of the masses and talk down to me!

Comment and let me know what your pet peeves are and I'll compile a best-of list.

Posted by Cory at 04:26 PM | Permalink

BusinessWeek Online recently posted an article on some of the challenges facing the telecommunications industry as they roll out bundled service packages (telephone, internet, television, and sometimes wireless). Of these, the article's author identifies customer treatment as the most important. He writes:

In the past week, I have received six advertisements via text message. They were all from my own provider and all about changing to a plan that is suitable for a chatty teenager or a plan that assumes I make three phone calls a month -- and all on weekends. The fact is -- and my service provider should know this -- none of these plans would suit my needs as a businessman who spends a significant part of his life out of the country. Please understand me as a customer. Make it easy to do business with you, and I will be yours forever.

I couldn't agree more.

The full article is available here.

Posted by Amy at 03:37 PM | Permalink

According to an article in the current issue of the Journal of Marketing, the answer is yes.

To quote the abstract:

Do investments in customer satisfaction lead to excess returns? If so, are these returns associated with higher stock market risk? The empirical evidence the authors present in this article suggests that the answer to the first question is yes. Remarkably, however, the answer to the second question is no, suggesting that satisfied customers are economic assets with high returns and low risk.

While customer service isn't the only factor that goes into customer satisfaction, for many industries it's a crucial one. If the data in the article is correct, it should serve as a strong argument in the boardroom for prioritizing investments in technologies that lead directly to happy customers.

Posted by Amy at 11:09 AM | Permalink

Cory blogged last month about Citibank's ad campaign for their new Simplicity credit card, which pushes the ability to press zero to speak directly with an agent. Last night, I caught their two TV ads while watching Dancing with the Stars (which, incidentally is the best reality show ever, and the most delightful piece of dance world camp since Strictly Ballroom).

Both ads parody the difficulties of navigating a frustrating IVR, the first one "Steak" showing a man going through a touchtone menu as his dinner preparations burst into flames, and the second one "Train" another man talking to a speech-enabled IVR as his one-sided conversation draws increasingly negative reactions from nearby passengers.

Of course, the commercials are parodies, and unfair in their details to actual IVRs. But besides being an expression of popular discontent with the IVR that companies ignore at their peril, the second spot raises some interesting issues around speech.

Continue reading "A New Way to Opt Out of the IVR" »

Posted by Amy at 04:15 PM | Permalink