We all love IVRs! Ok, no we don’t. Study after blog post after Twitter rant confirms that customers would much rather take a sharp stick in the eye. 

Then it’s web self-service. Everyone wants self-service! In fact they prefer it over human-based interactions, right? Not so much.

So why is it that, for certain individuals, words like "IVR" and "self-service" elicit such guttural, vial reactions?  

It’s not that IVR and other self-service solutions are inherently evil. The answer lies in that, in a great many cases, these solutions have been implemented to do one thing. The goal is to reduce the number of interactions handled by a human, thus reducing the cost of customer service. And, over the past 30 years, that has been the overarching myopic focus of customer service organizations, regardless of industry.

Because, any company that isn’t maniacal about pushing customers to lower cost channels, driving down average handle times, burying the 800 number on the 10^th page of the website, and reducing the total number of customer interactions will surely not be long for this world. 

But wait! Zappos, eBags, Virgin, and Marriott among others do exactly the opposite. And they all seem to be doing just fine.

Stop Avoiding Customers

The fact is your company, any company, should want to talk to as many customers as it possibly can, through whatever channels those customers choose. By this, I don’t mean talking to the same customers about the same problem or issue over and over. Rather, cast as wide and deep a net as possible. Why? Because, if you make the investment in and take the time to listen to those unsolicited customer voices, the insights contained within will deliver a return far greater than the narrowly focused cost saving efforts of restricted access.  

A strategy of cost containment and access reduction limits the insight into customer preferences, needs, problems to be solved and ultimately, their behavior.   

What if we looked at the service delivery model differently?

What if, rather than the conclusion of the interaction being the end of the process, we viewed that step as a means to a different end? Then the business justification becomes clearer. Investing in more ways for customers to communicate with your brand as a means of gathering a greater volume of unsolicited customer feedback can drive innovation in everything from product development, retail experience to back office processes and everything in between.  

Pretty intuitive, right?

Now let me not be so naïve as to suggest that anyone in your organization, especially your CEO or CFO, is going to write a blank check for you to go out and double the size of your customer service organization, reengineer your IVR and website, and dump more money into new channels just because of the argument above. Sorry to say, but you’re going to have to prove it. And the proof is going to be different for every organization.  

So, pick an issue, run a pilot, and build the business case. If, during that pilot, you identify that you don’t have the data, can’t get to it, or don’t have the ability to analyze it, you may need help from the outside.

Also note that this model of "customer service as enterprise analytics hub" will likely require different skills and resources within your organization as you are changing the value proposition for customer service as an enterprise function. 

We’ll explore those skills and the process for transformation in an upcoming post, so stay tuned.

For an in-depth look at how your customer service process can enhance your organization's bottom line, be sure to download the free ebook below.