Customer experience is a priority in all aspects of our work these days, and that includes the experience of customers calling our stores, whether it be to find out what the soup of the day is, how late the store is open, or if they can special order a product not on the shelves. According to one recent study, 90% of people calling a business want to speak to a human being. That’s great news for our co-ops who answer their phones in person! But what about co-ops using an interactive voice response system, or IVR, and what happens in any system when a customer is put on hold?
IVR systems are a great way to route people to the information they need, and a huge boost to staff productivity, but they can be a double-edged sword. If your phone branching is set up well, it can deliver excellent service to callers in a short time. If set up poorly, callers will wade through apparently endless options, find themselves lost if they choose the wrong option, or listen to jarring hold music. Another study indicates that 70% of people who have experienced a negative automated phone system will not call back. Ever.
So what’s a busy co-op manager to do? The first thing is to remember that an IVR isn’t a “set it and forget it” system. Assign managing the phone system to a specific staff person, and make sure that your customer experience standards are upheld through all the branches of the system. Call the system yourself and have your management team do so as well.
When you set up the phone menus, understand who is calling your store and why. Is it customers wanting to know store hours or today’s deli offerings? Is it to place special orders? Is it vendors? Is it staff needing to speak to their supervisor? If you design your phone system knowing who’s calling it, you’re more likely to give your callers a better customer experience.
Keep in mind that customers don’t like too many options. Try to limit your first tier to three options before offering the “speak to a staff person” option:
- For store hours and directions, press 1.
- To hear today’s deli offerings, press 2.
- To reach our store staff, press 3.
Ideally, you won’t have more than one additional layer of branching past the main menu. And always give callers a clear path back to the main menu and the opportunity to speak to a staff person. If you send customers to a “staff directory,” make sure you are clear about whether you need to type in a first name or last name. Have an option for people who don’t know the name of staff they are trying to reach. Be sure to keep this directory up to date — it’s disconcerting not being able to find someone in a directory when you know they work there!
Who should record your greeting and menu options? Find someone who has a soothing, professional-sounding voice. Remember — this is part of your brand, too. Be friendly and natural. Eliminate background noise. Write a script and practice it. Pay attention to what calls are being put on hold, and what your hold “music” is. While some electronic music is soothing, some of it is grating and harsh.
Most IVR systems have different options for when the store is open and after hours. Make sure the after-hour calls get routed to a voicemail or call-back option, so that a customer doesn’t get left with an unanswered ring and no way to communicate with the co-op.
As more people prefer to do their own information gathering online, retailers receive fewer calls. It’s important to recognize that when people do call, they need to receive the very best service possible, and providing that can be a unique differentiator for the co-op in today’s marketplace.
