Phone rage is defined as “extreme anger on the phone towards another person or organisation” and it is becoming more common. If you have a business phone system, you might unwittingly be upsetting your customers.
Surprisingly, the number one cause of phone rage isn’t unwanted PPI claim calls, it is something called Interactive Voice Response systems (IVR). There can’t be many people on the planet who haven’t come across these systems when calling businesses. The dreaded words “Please press one to…” are an all too common source of phone rage.
Of course like many things, the problem lies, not in the technology itself, but in the way that it is implemented. Too many options, confusing terminology and the impossibility of contacting a real human being are all enough to drive even the calmest consumer into a frenzy of frustration.
Who are the worst offenders?
Well, according to pleasepress1.com and their latest phone rage index, the worst examples of these automated IVR systems are
- HMRC
- Currys
- BT
- T-Mobile
- TV Licencing
- Sky
- Royal Mail
- Ticket Master
- Asda
- Virgin Holidays
What can business learn from this list?
If you have a modern telephone system, like the ones available from Meridian IP Communications, you’ll almost certainly have the option to use an IVR system. To make sure that your system works effectively here are some practical tips.
- Avoid bombarding your callers with unnecessary information between options
- Avoid offering too many options & menu levels
- Always provide the option of speaking to a human being
- Avoid loud hold music
- Make sure that the options are relevant to your callers
- Have an “anything else” option
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