Avoid customer frustration with these tips

Posted on Tuesday June 13, 2017

Bad customer service is one of the reasons why customers switch to competitors. It often begins the moment they pick up the phone to report a service issue, only to end up getting frustrated with your phone system. Your on-hold message may seem inconsequential, but it can play a big role in your customer's dissatisfaction. Avoid giving your customers another reason to switch by following these tips.

Use professionally recorded messages

A small nuisance like minimal static might not cause annoyance, but an unprofessional on-hold message certainly will. Banking on in-house resources such as your employees recording your on-hold messages might seem cost-efficient, but the poor quality of the recording could backfire.

To avoid this, hire professional voice talents for your company's Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. They'll enhance your company's brand by conveying messages in a professional, friendly, and pleasant manner. Professionals have impressive enunciation and exceptional voice skills, and they'll record messages using high-quality equipment.

Keep callers engaged with pleasant on-hold music

Your company's on-hold music should be relaxing, well modulated (not too loud or too soft), and on-brand. If you don't have the right recording equipment, hire professionals. Otherwise, your message may end up sounding distorted and the recording may produce static. It's a small thing, but it can spell the difference between keeping customers and driving them away.

Offer an easy way to speak to a person

To solve time-sensitive issues such as overcharged billing or an ongoing service issue, customers would rather speak to someone who can reverse a charge or file an urgent customer report. Businesses that rely too much on recorded messages that spin a complex web of voice prompts risk frustrating their customers.

Companies that deal with a large volume of inquiries can combine the efficiency of an IVR and personalized assistance by offering an option that lets callers quickly get connected to a customer service representative.

Provide clear, useful information

According to a study, 83% of customers prefer human interaction over automated channels when solving customer service issues. Nevertheless, IVRs offer an efficient way to dispense non-critical information such as business operating hours, special offers, and minor account updates.

Automated responses also offer an appreciable value to businesses that need to funnel their most important customer service calls into the right customer support channels. When deploying an IVR system, your on-hold messages should provide information that's up-to-date, concise, and useful.

Some of these issues can be solved using advanced VoIP solutions that not only automate and upgrade your customer support functions, but also turn it into a superior messaging system that can appease unhappy clients. Call us now for VoIP solutions that will help you integrate these tips into your customer support system.