Communication is the biggest winning point for small businesses. It can strengthen your relationship with the customers and give you a competitive advantage. You need to think beyond answering the phone calls from leads and customers because handling them can get daunting as the business grows, and so does your customer base.
Having an interactive voice response (IVR) solution can resolve the concern to a considerable extent as it ensures that every caller gets what they seek. Opting for hosted IVR is an even better option as it takes the entire system to the cloud. You get benefits like seamless connectivity, all-time reliability, and cost savings with hosted IVR. But you can do much more to make it work for your small business. Here are some tips that can help.
Start with a Meaningful Greeting
The IVR journey of the customer starts with the greeting played by the system. Since most callers connect only for basic information such as your address, product offering, and website, consider putting them in your greeting. You can expect customers to ask for opening hours and pandemic-safety measures implemented at your premises right now. Adding these details to the greeting is a good idea to address the needs of most callers.
Select Menu Options Carefully
The objective of IVR is to make things easier for the callers, whether they want answers to simple queries or wish to connect with an agent. It makes sense to use your menu options wisely so that customers need not struggle to reach what they want. As a rule, have the most popular option first and keep the rest as simple as possible. You may have to follow callers to learn about the popular options and create a menu accordingly.
Give Callers a Way to Reach a Real Person
Even as most callers will have simple concerns they can resolve with self-service, a few may want to connect with a real person. When you go ahead with hosting your IVR, ensure that the caller can reach a person who can address their concern right away. It can make all the difference to customer experience, which is the cornerstone of small business reputation. Customers want empathic connections, which are possible only when they talk to a human agent.
Ensure That They Reach the Right Person or Department
While connecting callers with real people is the key to top-notch experiences, you can go a step ahead with personalization. Implementing call routing is a good idea as it lets the IVR system connect the caller with the right person or relevant department. For example, if a caller has a query related to the use of a specific software product, the best way to handle the call is by connecting it with the concerned support department. It boosts the chances of the first-call resolution within minimal time.
Hosted IVR is the smartest investment for a small business that wants to deliver the best customer service and support. You can implement these smart measures, but it is also vital to choose a hosting provider that goes above and beyond with service quality.
