IVR Psychology

A new report by T3i Group suggests that the global IVR market will grow almost 20% by 2013. The growth will likely come in the three largest IVR applications: incoming call handling for call centers, inbound self-service calls and outbound calls such as customer reminders and notifications. The self-service sector appears to be a key area of growth as the cost savings and return on investment from IVR systems greatly outweighs the effectiveness of largely staffed call centers.

With market growth comes the need to continually improve customer experiences and satisfaction with IVR systems. In an effort to achieve improvement, some companies are studying the psychology of IVR messages. Many customers have a preconceived idea about IVR that is immediately triggered when they are greeted by an on-hold message. Some customers feel neglected and unappreciated when they hear standard messages, but customers who are greeted with empathetic messages are more willing to accept wait times before speaking to a service representative. Furthermore, exposing waiting customers to advertising while on hold may have unintended effects due to the negative associations of being kept on hold. Changes to IVR messages need not be dramatic. Simply employing new and different ways to show empathy to customers could pay dividends in future sales and service.