Contact Center Management
IVR Redesign & Optimization
Ensuring Proper Call Routing Design and Tuning for Effective Self-Service
JUST RELEASED!
Part II of The Northridge Group’s State of CX 2023 report reveals 93% of business leaders believe their companies make it easy for customers to resolve issues. Only 66% of customers agree.
Our Approach
The IVR is the front door to your business and should be welcoming and easy to use.
Imagine having the capability to anticipate your customers’ needs and have the right people available at the right time to consistently provide the level of customer service that consumers crave. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology can help remove the guesswork, simplify processes and improve First Contact Resolution (FCR) by routing customers to the most appropriate agent faster. However, the true benefits of an IVR can only be realized if it’s designed and optimized properly.
Our Approach
Our Approach to IVR Redesign and Implementation
At The Northridge Group, our IVR redesign and optimization engagements typically include an assessment and recommendations for the effective design, tuning and measurement of call routing and self-service capabilities. They may also include an assessment of current technology and, if appropriate, the identification of new technologies.
Proper design and optimization are crucial to the success of IVR technology. When appropriately optimized, an IVR will accurately reflect the brand, use clear, customer-friendly language, provide easy-to-use self-service and concise messaging, demonstrate respect for the customer’s time and leverage data to assess Customer Experience and effectiveness. Anticipated benefits of IVR optimization are:
Customer Need Focused
A focus on your customers’ needs and providing a Customer Experience that meets those needs often leads to improved customer satisfaction and retention, increased revenue and positive customer reviews.
Well-Defined Processes
Organizations with well-defined processes that are implemented effectively find efficiencies that translate directly to improved operational costs and increased customer and employee satisfaction.
Timely Information
Effective systems and tools that provide staff and customers with consistent and timely information drive opportunities for increased revenue and cost-saving efficiencies.
Operational Metrics
Developing and implementing key operational metrics allows for effective execution, monitoring and decision-making for improved performance.
Our Approach
Natural Language Processing
When optimizing IVR, the end-goal is often an evolution to Natural Language Processing. A Natural Language IVR allows callers to phrase the purpose of their call in a wide variety of ways as opposed to being prompted by specific phrases. Steps toward achieving this goal may include the following:
- Optimize Customer Experience in the IVR into a more natural, user-friendly design
- Plan for transformation to full speech recognition
- Initial focus to streamline toll-free numbers (TFNs) and align IVR flows to unified Contact Center structure
- Improve access to existing self-service options and implement new capabilities
- Integrate callback and multi-channel capabilities into IVR call flow
Our Solutions
IVR Design Best Practices
IVR design standards drive increased effectiveness and improve customer satisfaction. To achieve optimal results, we follow a set of best practices which include:
IVR Customer Experience
Clear, simple and consistent messaging within and across applications.
Call Flow Design
Modular design to partition updates for flexibility, reduced testing time and reduced errors.
Standards
Well-defined defaults and repeats; queue delay and emergency messages, as well as time of day routing tables.
Routing & Reporting
Routing scripts designed to quickly implement planned changes.
Testing & Implementation
Conduct usability studies on IVR for success factors prior to implementation. Create a pilot test system before it goes live and fine-tune prior to full implementation.
Documentation
Complete and detailed documentation to clarify best practices and processes.
Northridge Success
Optimization of Fortune 50 Enterprise Voice Response Menu Drives Improved Customer Experience and Cost Savings
Northridge was engaged to optimize the client’s voice response menu, where the services provided were complex and required unique, highly skilled agents to support their customers.
Northridge developed a set of specific recommendations relative to their routing, scripting and menu options that allowed the client to improve customer satisfaction, lower misdirects/transfers and optimize the call queues.
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