At Digital Agent, we have a number of tried and true methods for quickly streamlining a business’ call flow. One of the simplest but most effective methods is setting up recorded greetings and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). IVR allows callers to navigate through a phone tree via voice response to reach the right department or contact. Combined with recorded greetings, this effectively automates most of the work of getting callers to the right person to help them.
Keep reading to learn how and why we recommend configuring your phone system’s call menu to make your business more efficient and improve customer experience.
Get Callers to the Right Person Quickly
Depending on your industry, you may have a lot of different points of contact for different aspects of your business. The more people a caller has to go through to get to the contact they need to talk to, the more frustrated they will be when they finally reach the right person. Setting up IVR allows callers to quickly describe their needs and directs them to the appropriate contact or voice mailbox.
Automatically Share Hours and Directions
As easy as it is to look up a business’ hours and location online, many people still call for this information, especially during a time when many businesses have reduced hours. Recording your business hours and directions as the top option on your call menu is a great way to save your staff and customers time. When setting up your call menu, you should think about other FAQ that could be answered via a recorded response.
Let Customers Know That They’re Calling After-Hours
Even if you’ve set up a call menu option with your recorded store hours, late callers may be upset or confused why you aren’t answering the phone. It’s best practice to set up a different after-hours greeting than the greeting you play during the day, one that lets customers know the office is closed and encourages them to leave a message. This is a great way to reassure callers that you’ll return their call the next business day and helps you reduce repeat calls.
Encourage Extension Dialing
Of course, the fastest way to get a caller to the person they need to speak with is for them to directly dial that person’s extension. You can encourage extension dialing by making this an option on your primary call menu. Additionally, you should make sure your staff has their extension on their business cards and in their email signatures so customers have easy access to the right extension number.
Streamline Your Customer Experience with IVR and Recorded Greetings
IVR and recorded greetings are two of the best tools in your phone system toolkit. Using these tools the right way can significantly reduce the number of repeat callers, dropped calls, and overall call waiting times your customers experience. They also minimize the amount of time your employees spend on the phone directing callers to a different department or extension.
Get started on optimizing your business phone system by calling your Digital Agent.
Kate Lewis
Marketing & Sales Coordinator
Digital Agent
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