michael

If you’re a company who receives high call volumes, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword – good that you’re so popular, but bad because keeping callers happy in a queue is a bit of a challenge.

You’ve likely heard statistics banded around like:

• 90% of customers feel fed up by the end of the call
• 60% of callers say they find IVR systems “deeply frustrating”
• 30% of callers inexplicably hit random buttons or hang up

Here’s the thing: nobody likes being on hold. Everybody’s time is precious, and they don’t want to spend it listening to dreary empty promises or second rate elevator music. They hate being told their call is important to you because, if it was, they’d be speaking to somebody already, and the tone of your IVR will influence your customer’s mood, directly affecting how they communicate with your call agents.

We all know this, yet so many brands let themselves down by having poor quality messages that lead customers on a confused journey. Sometimes companies get so inundated with calls that they even lead their callers to a dead end, knowing the call will be disconnected – and we’re not even joking!

1. Set the tone

Your company’s tone of voice needs to be consistent throughout every avenue. Remember, the customer journey doesn’t start when they reach your agent, but from the moment they dial your number. Being aware of why your customers generally call allows you to provide messages appropriate to their mood, because coming across as super happy when your callers’ needs may be sensitive, or vice-versa, could risk offending them.

2. Make it easy

If you have a list of 17 different options, the chances are your callers will randomly swipe at buttons in frustration. This will take them to the wrong department, which will waste man-hours to discover what they want and then redirect them. Instead of this, take the time to make sure you offer the right options that land callers to the right place at the first time of trying. Also, if it’s possible for the caller to self-serve online, make sure they’re acutely aware of it, but give them an option to stay on the call if they still want to speak to someone.

3. Be consistent

Ever been on a call where each message is voiced by somebody different? By the time you get through to a person, it can feel like you’ve been on a real journey, which can make you feel fobbed off and mentally exhausted. Unless there’s a good reason to have more than one voice for your audio messages, be consistent so that the caller feels a sense of familiarity whilst on hold, helping them feel more at ease.

4. Maintain your standards

There is little worse than hearing audio messages from members of staff who sound like they have stage fright with a whole load of background noise in the background. What kind of message does this send about your company? Are you likely to entice new clients if you appear like you cut corners? Crisp sounding audio read by professional actors makes the world of difference, and something as simple as the wrong inclination within a word can be the difference between a customer being happy or taking their business elsewhere.

5. Be creative

Customers understand that due to high call volumes, they’re likely to have to hold for a little while. Generally, they’re absolutely fine with that as long as they don’t have to wait for excessive amounts of time or continuously repeat the same information. Therefore, why not use the time they are on hold to assert your brand personality and, dare we say it, have a little fun? For example, we installed the song Love Train on the customer complaint line at Virgin Trains, and many callers admitted it made them chuckle. It worked because it was in-keeping with the brand, and anything that improves your customer’s mood needs to be encouraged.

OnBrand Audio’s White Paper ‘The Pre-Agent Telephone Experience and Its Effect on Behaviour’ was the first academic study of customer satisfaction, frustration, and behaviour focusing only on the pre-agent section of the caller experience. The study was undertaken in conjunction with a team from The University of Roehampton around 18 months ago.

This research was the first of its kind on the pre-agent part of the experience and proved that what happens on this (often neglected) section of the phone call has a large impact on the subsequent success or failure of that call.

This white paper led onto developing the unique ‘Pre-Agent Experience Index’ which ranks the pre-agent telephone experience of over 250 brands. OnBrand Audio developed the experience index because in the white paper, 84% of consumers stated that they would potentially stop doing business with a company if the pre-agent experience frustrated them and 87% said they would stay loyal if the experience was positive.

The Index itself is a series of 40 questions divided into categories on Language, Structure, Voice, Quality, Brand and Experience. These are all factors which our experience tells us make up the most effective pre-agent caller experiences (effective for customers and the business). Each question is rated poor, average or good, giving a maximum of 5 points per question and 200 in total.

To give a specific example, the section on language has 4 questions and these are detailed below.

1) Do the words used match the language I use?

2) The language used is clear and I understand which option to press

3) The language is positive, not apologetic or negative

4) The language is concise and to the point, not wordy and long winded

The index has 220 companies rated and ranked both by total score but on each section. This enables us to develop a rigorous analysis of what is working well and what can be improved in each situation.

OnBrand Audio design new pre-agent experiences for major brands who have all of their other touch points aligned, but find that the telephone experience often gets left behind. This can result in the telephone menus becoming difficult for customers to use and inefficient for the organisation to run.

The good news is that all the elements of a positive caller experience also drive operational efficiency. The aim of the Pre-Agent Experience Index is to make this research useful to individual brands and help them improve in this crucial area.

OnBrand launch a partner programme to enable telecom companies to ‎provide professional audio messaging & IVR content services.

The partner programme was set up after extensive studies in customer contact, and the resulting outcome that organisations need to communicate even better before a call is answered – See more at: commsbusiness.co.uk

OnBrand Group launch a partner programme to enable telecom companies to ‎provide professional audio messaging & IVR content services.

The partner programme was set up after extensive studies in customer contact, and the resulting outcome that organisations need to communicate even better before a call is answered. Last year, OnBrand Group’s audio team developed a white paper in conjunction with a PhD research team at The University of Roehampton which examined the impact of the ‘pre-answer experience’ on the success or failure of a telephone call.

Rick Kirkham, Customer Experience Manager said; ‘The white paper was the first paper examining this area of customer contact in such detail and clearly proved the link between the messages customers hear before they get answered and the likelihood of a positive call outcome. With over 80% of phone systems in the UK using recorded messages, the Partner Programme unlocks a new opportunity for Telecoms partners to get quick and easy access to new audio messaging content for their customers.

The importance of getting the recorded part of the telephone experience right is perhaps highlighted by one of OnBrand Audio’s channel partners; Charities Buying Group Telecom, part of the Charities Buying Group.

David Nethercott, M.D. at CBGTelecom Ltd tells us that once they implemented the most cost effective telephone system for their charity customers, “It is extremely important that the caller is engaged, stays on the line when the call is answered, and the callers are in the best frame of mind to help the charity.  Using the Telephone Audio Partner Programme has enabled to us to offer this finishing touch to the charities we work with, enhancing their customer experience and adding value to their relationship with us.”

Daniel Graham, MD of OnBrand Group says; ‎”We worked hard to make sure the web portal is white labelled so there is no need to introduce another supplier into the chain, and that choosing voice artists, music and scripts was quick and effortless, reducing friction in the overall sale, adding a valuable step up in caller experience and customer satisfaction.”

This is an example of a new channel strategy that has clear benefits to both telecommunication partners and their end users. Working closely together they can deliver the product and service levels needed to succeed in the market place.