Many of your customers prefer using digital channels, so why do they still call? A common reason is lack of awareness of new digital functions – if they had to call two years ago to make sure their credit card would work on a trip to Italy, they will probably do that again even if you added that function recently.

When new features are rolled out to the digital channel, it’s a challenge to change assumptions about what’s available online vs. what merits picking up the phone.

Is your IVR prepared?  

As a result of situations like the one above, your contact center is taking calls from customers who prefer not to be there. So why not allow your IVR to help them complete their transaction on their preferred digital channel?

There are three key components to enabling your IVR to deflect these calls away from agents.

1. The first is to recognize a digital customer. As these are customers who would rather transact on their device, it’s key to invest in a backend that will associate frequent online contact with the customer profile that’s identified by the IVR. This will allow you to treat these callers as a unique segment, with a myriad of tailored treatments.
2. Next is to optimize intent capture. It’s important to know why your customer is calling, even if you cannot offer self-service options in the IVR. If your strategy is menu-driven today, you might need Natural Language Understanding to identify what non-automatable tasks your digital customers are calling about.
3. The third element is IVR to Digital conversion. Real life experience has proven that customers are willing to shift gears even after placing a phone call, if faster service is available through an SMS or chat interface. True digital users aren’t looking to talk to someone; they just want to get their issue taken care of quickly and effectively.

The assumption that the phone channel is the last stop in a customer’s journey is pervasive. We already know customers come and go from other channels, however, so why not lure them away from the most expensive one? Today, the notion of IVR to Digital Conversion is a largely untapped opportunity. By understanding who are the digital customers and then targeting the right users in the right contexts, your customers can get immediate assistance in their channel of choice at a fraction of the cost of a live phone call.

If you are interested in exploring the potential of IVR to Digital conversion for your call center, please consider a Nuance Business Consulting engagement – we can identify your needs, benefits and costs associated with keeping digital customers in the channels they prefer. Visit our website to make an inquiry.