Creating a Voice Menu? 3 Mistakes to Avoid

You want each of your customers to be greeted with a warm introduction, which is why you might be tempted to create a custom greeting long before the automated department options ever play. Unfortunately, customers are often short on time and patience, which could prompt them to hang up before they ever talk with an employee.

In fact, in a PRWeb study that interviewed more than 2,500 people, 60% of respondents stated that being on hold even one minute is too long to wait, and a third of the polled individuals stated they wouldn't hold at all before hanging up. In the study, 27.6% said they would wait for one minute before hanging up, which demonstrates an important point — voice menus need to be brief.

When you create automated voice menus, focus on getting right to the point. While it is completely appropriate to have the recording greet the customer, avoid drawn-out greetings, advertisements, or information that could be included in its own menu option. For instance, instead of stating your hours of operation in the greeting, consider having store information listed as its own menu option.

Another mistake that businesses make when creating voice menus is adding too many menu options. For instance, if you manage a grocery store, you might be thinking about having a separate extension for every department of your store, instead of the main ones customers call for.

In addition to dragging out the length of your automated message to customers, unnecessary menu options could make it easier for people to unintentionally route their calls to the wrong portion of your store.

For instance, because customers may not know whether they need to talk with a grocery manager or the produce director to ask about product availability, including too many options could cause a person to hold longer than they want to, which could affect their opportunity to buy products.

Before you start making your voice menu, think carefully about which areas of your business people need to reach most frequently, and only add those options. Whatever you do, avoid creating long lists of private extensions, which could send calls to areas of the store that are unmanned.

When all a customer is calling for is a quick question, even a brief voice menu might be too much to hold their attention. Fortunately, you can keep customers engaged and improve call routing by creating a clear path to the operator or customer service desk.

Instead of listing directions for reaching the operator at the end of the message, consider including it as the first option before you list separate departments. When you create the keyed prompts, choose common numbers like 0 so that new customers reaching out to your store can access the operator quickly and efficiently.  

Make sure that the phones in your business that handle the operator calls are answered constantly during normal business hours, and consider hiring an outside service to manage after-hours inquiries. By always being available for your customers, you can show people that you care.

Customer service counts in business, which is why business owners from all over the country turn to  Kim's Answering Service, Inc.  In addition to offering incredibly customized phone solutions for your business, this answering service can also help with paging, electronic responses, and secure texting 24 hours a day. Find out how we can help your business by giving us a call.