Did you know the way you answer phone calls to your business could be driving away customers?
According to Marketing Land, one study found that 74 percent of people were inclined to choose a competitor after a negative phone experience. And the first, and perhaps most important, step to any phone experience is the way the phone call is answered. That means a bad initial phone interaction — long hold times, not being able to get through to the right person, overall lack of professionalism when answering and routing calls — could do much more damage to your business than you might realize.
How can you improve the way you answer your phone in order to retain customers and drive business?
The first step is to use an automated system, or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR). IVRs are advanced phone auto attendants that can perform basic tasks such as refilling prescriptions, taking payments, surveying callers and fielding answers to yes/no questions without requiring the time of your team members. They also perform the important function of helping define the customer’s specific needs so that the first human interaction is likely to be with a person qualified to address their needs. There is nothing worse as an initial customer experience than being bounced from department to department. Although IVRs are great, they can still cause frustration and drive away customers when not used properly. So, here’s how to use an automated answering service, like an IVR, to retain customer and grow your business.
How to use IVRs to keep customers and grow your business.
If your business already has an automated answering service, or you’ve determined your business needs an automated answering service such as an IVR, it’s time to look at how to make that answering service as caller-friendly as possible so you don’t lose customers or cause frustration.
Here are 5 common mistakes to avoid so you don’t drive customers away with your automated answering…