IVR Best Practices For Greetings And Implementation

IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response and is one of the most prominent features of a cloud communication solution that allows businesses to offer a self-help tool for customers. IVR is also an effective system to resolve customer queries swiftly.

However, if your hosted IVR solution is not set up correctly, it can also damage the hard-earned reputation of your business as well. Your IVR should be consistent and, most importantly, easy to use. Most companies struggle with creating an effective IVR system as they are not aware of the best practices to follow.

In this complete guide on IVR best practices, you will learn how to design a simple IVR flow, choose IVR greetings, and some do’s and don’ts while designing and implementation of an IVR.

IVR Best Practices For Greetings And Implementation

1. Keep the IVR flow simple

The menu of your IVR system should be simple. Hosted IVR solutions allow you to create multiple level IVR systems, but you should not add too many levels as it makes it complicated for users. The ultimate goal of IVR is to deliver a remarkable user experience through easy and navigable menu

2. Ensure that your IVR is easy to navigate

For multi-level IVR systems, users should be able to navigate back and forth through the menu options easily. Always include the option to return to the previous menu and repeat the current menu options.

3. Prioritize important options first

Don’t add too many options in your IVR solution. Only include essential options and put them on a priority-based order. One way to find out is to A/B test your IVR system and see how users interact with different options. After that, you can put the most frequently used options ahead and allow users to take quick actions.

4. Allow customers to connect with your agents

There are still many users who prefer talking to agents for resolving their queries. Hence, it would help if you always put the option to allow users to speak with your agents anytime .

5. Intelligent call routing for first call resolution

First call resolution is a vital call center metric that gauges the ability of your agents to resolve customer queries on their first call without any follow up required. And one way to improve this metric is to implement intelligent call routing via your IVR system.

Allow customers to connect with your internal departments as per their requirements for faster query resolutions.

For example:

Press 1 to connect with our sales team.

Press 2 to connect with our product support team.

Press 3 to connect with our finance team.

How To Choose Your IVR Greetings?

Choosing a well-articulated IVR greeting is quite essential. You should avoid technical jargon in your IVR greetings to keep it simple for your customers. Here we are sharing some of the best IVR greetings which you can use.

1. Welcome greeting templates

“Thanks for calling XYZ (Company name).”

“Thanks for calling XYZ, please stay tuned while we connect your call with our support agent.”

“Thanks for calling XYZ, your call is important to us. Kindly stay on the line, and one of our agents will soon answer your call.”

“Thanks for calling XYZ. Do check out xyz.com to see our latest product offers & services.”

2. Main menu IVR script

After the welcome greeting, you have to design the main menu IVR script. Creating a simple and yet effective IVR menu script is critical for your business. Avoid adding a long list of options for your customers. Only add the most frequently used options and prioritize them on the same basis.

Here is an IVR template for businesses allowing their customers to connect with different internal departments.

Thanks for calling XYZ (company name) where (company slogan) or any (informational or promotional message).

Press 1 to speak with our sales agent.

Press 2 to speak with our product support team.

Press 3 to speak with our billing team.

Press 0 to speak with an agent.

Press 9 to repeat the options.

3. Voicemail greeting

For businesses, every call is urgent. In case if your agents are busy and the new calls are on hold, then you should ensure that they do not wait for too long. One way to handle this situation is to transfer calls to voicemail after a specific time (it can be 1, 2, or 2.5 minutes). With an IVR, you can easily do it by specifying your voicemail as the failover destination.

IVR voicemail template: Thanks for calling XYZ. All of our agents are online. Kindly leave the message after the beep, and one of our agents will get back to you as soon as possible.

4. Industry-specific IVR greeting templates

Healthcare

Thanks for calling XYZ.

Press 1 if you have a prescription.

Press 2 if you have a new prescription.

Press 3 if you want to book an appointment

Press 9 to talk with our agent.

Press 0 to repeat the options.

If the user presses 1 or 2 options, then IVR will connect with your CRM to collect prescription details and provide further options based on your IVR configuration.

Education

Thanks for calling XYZ company.

Press 1 if you are an existing student.

Press 2 if you are a new student.

Press 3 to know our course details.

Press 4 to speak with a career counselor.

Press 0 to repeat the menu.

If the caller chooses option 1 and 2, then your hosted IVR system will connect with your CRM to fetch all the necessary details of the student and provide further options based on your IVR system design and implementation.

Automobile

Thanks for calling XYZ company.

Press 1 if you are an existing customer.

Press 2 if you are a new customer.

Press 3 to know the latest car launches.

Press 4 to speak with our sales assistant.

Press 0 to repeat the menu.

IT Sector

Thanks for calling XYZ company.

Press 1 if you are an existing customer.

Press 2 if you are a new customer.

Press 3 to know about our product and services.

Press 4 to speak with our sales team

Press 0 to repeat the menu.

IVR Best Practices for Design and Implementation

Do’s for IVR systems:

1 Only provide a maximum of 4 options with the most frequently selected option being first on the list.

2. Keep keypad presses consistent through your multi-level IVR system.

3. Keep the IVR voice the same throughout the process.

4. Avoid heavy dialects in the IVR voice and keep it simple.

5. Try to give your customers the option to talk with an agent as many callers can’t be satisfied with an IVR system.

6. Test your IVR before making it live. Fine-tune the options and see how your customers are interacting with it.

7. After making your IVR live, check it for user acceptance.

8. Perform load testing of your hosted IVR system.

9. Inform your clients of the planned business or IVR changes before.

Don’t for IVR systems:

1. Don’t make it difficult for your caller to connect with the agents.

2. A poorly implemented IVR system can damage your business reputation. Therefore, plan your IVR system before launching it and evaluate its performance regularly.

3. Don’t neglect the importance of customer feedback. Take input from your customers on how they feel about your IVR system and how you can improve it any further.

Final Thoughts:

IVR serves the purpose of delivering exceptional customer experience and support only when you design and implement it using the best practices mentioned in this post. Follow these best IVR practices to create a system that helps your business to solve customer queries efficiently.

Talk with our IVR solution experts to get answers to your queries and get help in implementing an IVR system that engages your prospects and customers.