My wife ordered some “stuff” online from a major retailer.  No news there.  When the merchandise didn’t arrive within a week or so, she called the company to find out where it was.   When she called, I was drinking my morning coffee and she put the entire call on speakerphone because she was expecting to get put on hold. She wanted to get some things done while waiting.  This call went right to an IVR and so I heard the entire IVR transaction.

The IVR itself was pretty poorly designed.  It asked lots of questions and then you had the choice to say some number or press the number.  It was pretty frustrating even just listening to it. All of a sudden, my wife blurts out “I wish I could just see the menu options!”  It actually wasn’t as nice as that but that’s essentially what she said.  Predictably, the IVR talked back to her along the lines of “I did not understand you”.  She finally got to an agent and straightened it out.

After the call, I told her it’s possible to get a Visual IVR just like she wanted.  I showed her what some look like.  She was just like any typical consumer – many now call from smartphones so Visual IVR makes total sense.  The calls will go quicker and the customers will be more satisfied.

If you want to learn more about Visual IVR, please listen to the “Customer Experience – Improving the Look with Visual IVR” webinar that we did with Apex in December.