Get Rid Of Automated Voice Response Systems; Let Call Center Reps Service Your Customers!

Bill Taylor, co-founder of FastCompany Magazine, recently blogged about a particular customer experience that we all face--and we all hate. That of the Automated Call Centers or Voice Response Systems. These are the mazes of telephonic options callers are forced to navigate in order to either get an answer to their query or to talk to a customer service representative.

Everyone hates them. To read his blog article:

http://blogs.hbr.org/taylor/2010/11/press_3_if_automation_is_makin.html

Despite efforts to make them "human-like" or friendly, their function continues to be to try to filter away all unnecessary calls that humans are required to take. Despite their universal distaste, there is not a company in the land that does not utilize the technology. Why? The cost of an automated call is pennies compared with the dollars it takes for a human response.

Taylor believes we have it all wrong. Instead of thinking about call centers as expenses to be minimized, leading to more automation efforts, he thinks businesses should view them as business centers that are there to enhance the business through service.

"It's worth noting that some of the most successful, advanced, cutting-edge consumer brands I've gotten to know over the last few years explicitly reject the idea that that customer service is a cost to be cut rather than an strategic advantage to be honed," Taylor writes.

My View:

For years, the Automated Voice Response system has been used for two purposes: 1. To route calls to the correct location, and 2. To answer routine questions in a fast and efficient manner.

With the advent of convenient centralized toll-free 1-800 numbers, companies need to be able to get callers to their needed departments. This need still exists.

However, the second purpose, to deliver routine information, has become obsolete as the Internet is clearly a superior choice for users. Therefore, account balances, transaction statuses, trade instructions, and more are no longer needed on the telephone system. In fact, they are now negative in that call tree menus are way too long and impact customer satisfaction. My wife just called the State Department of Consumer Protection for a business matter and endured nine levels of menus before she was able to speak to the correct person. Frustrating, even though she got the answer she wanted very quickly from the person.

Moreover, Taylor and others argue that a personal conversation is an asset rather than an expense. I wholeheartedly agree. Call center customer service representatives give companies the ability to:

--reinforce the Customer Service experience through caring, expertise and efficient handling of the call;
--identify opportunities for up-selling or cross-selling the company's other offerings;
--identify issues that a customer has with the company's services or products before they leave for the competition;
--collect data about customers' satisfaction with service or product that can be used for future enhancements.

Call centers can be the best asset a company has for satisfaction, retention and growth. Why companies continue to invest in technology to prevent that conversation from happening is short-sighted.