Golden Rules of Self-Service

There is, and perhaps always will be, an ongoing debate about the effectiveness of customer self-service through IVR systems.  A simple web search will return countless anecdotal accounts of frustration and trouble with IVR self-service solutions.  However, most consumer research indicates the opposite.  In addition, customer satisfaction data collected by companies further indicate a general acceptance of the technology by a majority of consumers.  These results raise the question: what is it about IVR systems that elicit such varied user perceptions?

ClickFox recently conducted a survey asking participants about their preferred method of interactions with their banks, cable/wireless providers, utilities and insurance providers.  The results indicate that most customers prefer to use self-service to resolve simple tasks like paying bills or checking account status, but would rather human interaction for more complex tasks such as filing claims or seeking technical assistance.  Of course these results also show that there will always be a place for human customer service operators but there is room to increase self-service and customer satisfaction at the same time. To implement an effective system, developers must take consumer demographics into account and consider how their range of customers will respond to certain types of self-service interactions.  By avoiding common mistakes in development, companies can also avoid negative attention on the web and social media sites.  1to1 Media suggests that there are five golden rules that will help increase self-service interactions while concurrently improving customer satisfaction.  Using best practices, knowledge bases and end-user analysis in IVR development can result in cost-savings and customer retention.