Category: Customer Experience

An objection is a useful way to understand what someone wants or needs. “I might buy that, but I need one that comes in red,” helps you learn that the color choice matters to this person.

Sometimes, it’s possible that an objection can be overcome. “I just found a red one in the warehouse,” certainly deals with the color issue.

If that happens, if new information overcomes a previous objection, it’s often followed by a new objection. “The safety issue you said you were worried about is addressed in this peer-reviewed study…” And then there’s another objection, and another…

What’s actually happening is the person is saying, “I’m afraid.”

It might be, “I’m afraid to tell you that I’m not interested.” But it’s more likely that it’s, “I’m afraid of the unknown, I’m afraid about what my friends will think, I’m afraid about money…”

And there are two reasons that people won’t tell you that they’re afraid. First, because our culture has taught us that fear is something to be ashamed of. But far more than that, because we’re concerned that if we share our fear, you’ll push us to go forward, and we’re afraid to do that.

When dealing with someone who’s afraid, when they’re objecting to something that’s important, it’s tempting to imagine that more evidence will make a difference–that it’s the objections that matter. But more studies of efficacy or public health or performance aren’t going to address the real objection.

Money (“it’s too expensive”) is a common objection, but it’s often not the real reason. Price is simply a useful way to end the conversation.

“I’m afraid” is something we don’t want to say, so we search for an objection instead.

And what leads to forward motion? Either a shift in the culture, in peer approval, which lowers fear. Or sometimes, the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of moving forward.

Customers are more demanding than ever before. One bad experience with your brand could send them packing to the competition in the blink of an eye. As a matter of fact, in a recent Customer Service Index study from Five9, 95 percent of respondents perceived customer service as very important. A recent Salesforce survey also found that 47 percent of customers would stop buying from a company based on a sub-par experience. This may sound like a knee-jerk reaction, but it’s true. There are lots of brands out there, and customer service is among the top reasons customers choose one brand over another. In fact, 98 percent of respondents in the same Five9 CSI survey recognize this and see customer experience as crucial for their business to retain customers. Full article: https://www.five9.com/blog/reimagine-self-service-to-give-customers-the-experiences-they-expect
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Did you know that 61% of customers don’t like the traditional IVR (Interactive Voice Response) audio model?
Nobody likes lengthy phone prompts, and customers usually prefer to speak to a human. However, IVR is an efficient tool with benefits for both contact centers and customers when used correctly. IVR helps route customers to the right person to satisfy their needs, and with customers’ growing disdain for audio IVR, Visual IVR is fast becoming a standard for contact centers.
Visual IVR provides customer support through a visual interface, allowing customers to click or tap their preferred next step on a computer or mobile device. The click/tap option is less cognitively challenging than listening to a stream of options through audio IVR.
There’s a lot that goes into creating a Visual IVR, and it’s important to keep your customers’ experience in mind while doing so. User Experience (UX) is vital for Visual IVR — without it, you’ll have frustrated customers calling your contact center anyway.
The Secret Sauce for Increasing Customer Happiness
Why Designing a Great Visual IVR is Important
Designing a strong Visual IVR is important for many reasons. Visual IVR has the capacity to ensure a consistent and efficient customer experience. By considering UX, you can ensure your Visual IVR is functional and doesn’t interfere with other customer support flows. Here are some tips to help you create a great Visual IVR:
1. Don’t just copy your voice IVR.
Creating a Visual IVR isn’t just repeating your old audio IVR script. You’re creating a different experience completely, and your customers will expect something different as well. Take the time to add a fresh take to your menu options, and think about how those options can better fit with your brand and customers’ needs.
2. Make sure your Visual IVR on-brand.
Your brand entails messaging, logos, color schemes, voice, and more. Essentially, your brand is your promise to your clients. All aspects of your business should incorporate your brand, from your customer service communications, web content, HTML stylings, email signatures, storefront, advertising, and more.
If your scheme is blue and white, make the menu options have blue writing on a white background. If your voice is laid back and friendly, make sure the copy in your IVR reflects that as well. Keeping brand in mind when creating a Visual IVR ensures your customers’ experience isn’t disjointed.

DID YOU KNOW?
Fonolo’s Visual IVR can be customized visually and functionally to suit your contact center needs. Plus, it’s a perfect complement to our call-back technology.

3. Personalize your Visual IVR.
We already know that the top reason for customer frustration is not being able to get a human on the phone. As human beings, we value human experiences. Even though you can’t directly speak to a human through IVR, you can still have a personalized experience.
Consider personalizing your client’s experience by adding their name into the prompts wherever possible. Use customer data to tailor your menu options accordingly – this will make your customers feel valued. Don’t offer them options that are inconsistent with their purchase or interaction history.
4. Make it easy to find and use.
If it’s hard to find or use, customers won’t waste their time with it. A complicated Visual IVR will just increase customer frustration, prompting them to call your contact center instead. This can result in high call volumes and overwhelm for your agents, so it’s worth the effort to create an intuitive experience for your customers.
7 Easy Ways to Reduce Friction in Your Customer Experience
5. Ask the right questions to help call routing.
Optimize your routing and get your customers where they need to be by asking the right questions. Try to route them to their destination with descriptive menu options catered to their needs and previous interactions.
Another important question you should ask your customers is, “How was your experience?” At the end of the process, offer them a quick survey to show customers that you care about their feedback. This is also a great way to improve your IVR and customer satisfaction.
6. Don’t use it to block contact.
Visual IVR can be used for call deflection — but that doesn’t mean you should. While this tactic can be used to reduce call volume and inbound calls, it can often backfire, resulting in low customer satisfaction levels.
Rather than forcing your customers into your preferred channel, try meeting them at theirs. Optimizing your Visual IVR and other digital channels is a more sustainable way to attract and serve your digital-native customers without sacrificing customer experience for those who prefer the voice channel.
7. Offer customers a call-back.
When it comes to transitioning channels, most businesses with Visual IVR technology either offer a phone number for the customer to call or a call-back service. While both are valid options, call-backs are becoming more popular with customers.
Why? Because customers universally hate waiting on hold. By allowing them to schedule a call-back from a live-agent at a later time, you provide a valuable service that will save your customers precious minutes.
Are You Losing Customers to Hold Time?
8. Test it (then re-test it!).
Test your Visual IVR technology from the back-end to make sure everything is functioning correctly before going public. This may seem basic, but the last thing you want is for your platform to crash, flooding your voice channel with concerned customers.
When piloting your Visual IVR, consider the customer perspective. Is it easy to locate on your website and/or app? Is it intuitive and easy to use? Can any of the processes be streamlined? Be sure to consider your most common customer questions – this can help you anticipate which paths your customers are most likely to take. This way, you can easily identify glitches or inconsistencies and optimize the flow as needed.The post Blog first appeared on Fonolo.

Errors are preventable.

But preventing errors requires an investment. Before committing to an error-free production environment, it’s worth calculating the cost.

A typo on this blog is relatively inexpensive. (Thanks to loyal reader Seth Barnes for graciously emailing me when one slips through).

On the other hand, a mistake in calculating the route of a high-speed rail line might cost a billion dollars… And we probably don’t want any errors on the pacemaker assembly line.

If you’ve decided that errors are too expensive for your project, then build a system that doesn’t depend on heroics to avoid errors. Sure, that costs more than just trying harder, but if trying harder was going to reduce errors, it would have worked already.

The pilot who painstakingly works through the pre-flight checklist might not be a swashbuckling Maverick type, but they are much less likely to be the victim of a careless error. The reason that planes don’t crash is because there are countless layers of redundancy and systems to be sure that they don’t.

Spend the time and spend the money and the errors can be avoided. Or accept that errors are part of wayfinding, and realize that your problem is caused by a systemic situation, not a lack of effort.

A heated debate is going on around digitalisation in the last year or so. We’re all speculating about digital trends in 2021 and the future of customer interactions with brands. Will people opt for virtual channels rather than face-to-face communication? According to new research from Nuance, we might see more digital interactions in the future….
The post Around 55% of UK adults will prefer digital channels post-pandemic appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

Customer Experience is everything right now. It is overtaking product and pricing as a key brand differentiator. Digital-savvy consumers are interacting with businesses across different messaging channels and expect a consistent experience and instant, personalized responses to their questions. Zendesk data shows a 50% surge in messaging-based support tickets over the last ten months. This points to the increasing role of Conversational AI as companies try to create a seamless omnichannel experience to forge meaningful customer connections. Watch this session to learn and adopt the best practices for delivering a world-class customer experience. Register Now!
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It doesn’t matter what your industry is — the better experience customers have with you, the likelier it is that you’ll grab more market share and be successful. In this sense, ensuring customers have a good experience with your company is always important. In 2021, however, it’s going to be crucial. A great customer experience is the holy grail for most companies. It’s what ensures that people do repeat business and refer you for growth. It will be a major focus for businesses throughout this year and beyond as leaders try to figure out how to use more technology transparently and authentically in ways that make buyers happy. By combining innovative technology solutions with world-class customer service in the areas that count for your industry, you’ll ensure the future of your company looks bright for many years to come. Full article: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/367944
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Last year, it became crystal clear that companies have to simultaneously invest in CX and EX development. These two internal business processes have to be aligned for long-term sustainability and growth. Belinda Gannaway, Strategy Director at FathomXP, recently spoke with CXM about designing a meaningful employee experience in a co-created and collaborative way. In March…
The post Designing a meaningful employee experience: An interview with Belinda Gannaway appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

The second time you rewire a system after finding a hum, it might take two minutes. The first time, the time you figured out what the problem was, it might have taken two hours.

Typing a book takes a few days at most. Figuring out what to type might take years.

We are either adding value by using our time to do something that’s been done before… or we’re contributing by finding out a way to do something new or create a better path forward.

If you’re simply ‘typing’, the work might still be important, but you’re not fulfilling your potential. You won’t as much in the way of respect, compensation or satisfaction, either.

On the other hand, if you’ve signed up for wayfaring, forgive yourself if it takes a little (or a lot) longer. Because if we knew the right answer, we would have found it already. That’s the hard part.

It’s possible that you can earn a wayfaring premium when you’re merely repeating something you discovered a while ago, but that’s hard to maintain. And it’s possible that you could find someone to solve your interesting problem fast and cheap, but that’s unlikely.

Being really clear about what we’re buying (and selling) opens the door to getting serious about whether or not you’re here to solve an interesting problem.

Dan Gingiss, CX Speaker and author of “The Experience Maker” will be be going live to share about his learnings and experience he got from McDonalds, Discover and Humana. Also Alan Berkson, Head of Global Analyst Relations at Freshworks will also be joining Dan to discuss how businesses can create remarkable expereince that customers can instantly share on social media. Get your free spot: bit.ly/3cC64ul
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