IVR Gaffe
“Please listen carefully as the menu options have changed.” How often have we been greeted with this infernal message on an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system? The kicker is I don’t recall a single instance where the menu options have actually changed.
Why do companies do this? Is it their intention to deceive and to annoy? Or, is there some grand liability associated with inadvertently directing an unsuspecting speed-dialing customer to the billing department instead of customer service? Are the ramifications so severe as to warrant the continuous play of this phrase on the off chance that a change to the options actually does take place? “They can’t blame us for the faulty transfer. We told them the options changed!”
Is it too much trouble to actually place the message on the answering machine only when there is actually a change to the menu options and remove it at an appropriate time?
Help me out here Joe and Wanda.
Joe Kerr: Look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!
Wanda B. Goode: It is an annoyance. It’s probably not good practice to begin interaction with your customers with a false statement? Customers deserve better.
Here’s a post on making your automated customer service system a bit more friendly.
NFIB
Here’s another on tips for IVR success.
Frustrated with automated customer service? Here’s a post on how to combat it.
CRMBuyer
Stumble it!
