{"id":1349,"date":"2021-04-01T05:35:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T05:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/?p=1349"},"modified":"2021-04-01T05:36:41","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T05:36:41","slug":"top-5-mistakes-small-business-owners-make-ivr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/top-5-mistakes-small-business-owners-make-ivr\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 5 Mistakes Small Business Owners make With Their IVR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by:<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0Allison Smith – Guest Blogger and Professional Telephony Voice<\/p>\n

This blog was originally posted on\u00a0Grandstream.com<\/a><\/p>\n

As a small business owner, your phone system sets the tone for callers. It lets them know what it will be like to do business with you; it gives them a glimpse into your personality and the type of company you are.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At least it should.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a professional telephone voice. I have voiced phone systems for enterprise carriers, and I have voiced IVRs for mom-and-pop small businesses alike. No matter the size of your business, there are some pitfalls that get in the way of you implementing a streamlined, uncomplicated IVR which effortlessly guides your callers to the correct department and shows them who you are.\u00a0Small companies encounter a special set of obstacles. Competing with bigger entities may drive decisions you make about your outward-facing persona. Rather than depict your company accurately and honestly, many small businesses may find the temptation to overstate their capabilities in order to look like a contender.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the biggest mistakes\u00a0small companies make when designing their call flow:<\/p>\n

1. You Try to Make Your Company Sound Bigger<\/h3>\n

I frequently voice intro messages which sometimes exceed 15-20 options \u2014 and most of them just re-route back to a single point of contact. You press accounts receivable, payable, tech support \u2014 it all ends up at the same friendly CEO\/accountant\/chief bottle washer. I\u2019m a small company, too \u2014 so I understand the necessity in wearing numerous hats. Just be aware that too many options or sub-directories point to an obvious attempt to sound bigger. It\u2019s OK \u2013 and even preferable \u2013 to limit the amount of choices in the opening menu to 4 or 5 options max. And it\u2019s OK \u2013 even impressive — to be that small company who exceeds customer\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n

2. You Forgo IVR and\/or Automated Reception Altogether<\/h3>\n

With many SMB\u2019s leading a mobile, on-the-go existence, many opt for passing calls directly to their personal cell phones. This is a less than optimal situation for numerous reasons: it is nearly impossible for clients to *stop* using the personal cell as their point of contact, and the blurs the boundaries between you and clients. We strongly recommend the use of at least one form of intermediary \u2013 like an IVR, a receptionist service, or both in tandem. A live receptionist works for high-touch service; but this can go hand-in-hand paired with a friendly, professional IVR. The image that this layered approach creates is one of professionalism \u2013 and a highly intuitive, multi-pronged strategy to caller management.<\/p>\n

3. Your Most Important Options are Lost in the Menu<\/h3>\n

I once voiced an IVR system for a heart clinic in Florida which had12 different options to choose from (too many), and the very last option said: \u201cIf this is a medical emergency, please hang up, and dial 911.\u201d Let\u2019s say you were having crushing chest pains and happened to dial your cardiologist\u2019s office instead of 911; wouldn\u2019t you want to be set straight \u2014 sooner than later? That goes for customers who are having technical support issues with the internet service you provide\/support \u2014 let\u2019s give those people with an emergent need a gateway to get to a person \u2014 fast. Identify the top five reasons for callers to call, and front-stack them according to urgency\/popularity.<\/p>\n

4. You Haven\u2019t Given Callers a Direct Route to Service<\/h3>\n

Generally speaking, modern callers are turnkey, and are accustomed to arriving at a solution by themselves, in a self-serve way. Unless they\u2019re new to the system (a first-time caller) or they encounter an overflow situation, where all agents are busy and you want to avoid them ending up in a voicemail option, where the \u201cchain of service\u201d ends. I\u2019ve found that many clients are afraid to offer a \u201cPress 0\u201d option in their IVR if none of the menu choices fit (out of a fear that the \u201c0\u201d option will be abused), but I think that callers know when to choose an automated route and when to \u201chold out\u201d for personalized service.<\/p>\n

5. You\u2019ve Cornered Someone In the Office to Voice Your Greetings<\/h3>\n

Why not? Everyone speaks, don\u2019t they? Not to over-inflate the importance of what I do for a living, but the voicing of your opening greeting, your closed greeting, and staff directory \u2013 when voiced by a pro \u2013 speaks volumes about your professionalism and image. Getting a staffer to go into a quiet boardroom and just voice the prompts over a telephone handset is rife with issues: recordings made directly over the phone are of terrible sound quality, mistakes cannot be edited out, and a staffer \u2013 while right there in your office \u2013 will be focused on their core competency and less available for re-dos and changes than an off-site voice pro with their own studio and a full-time dedication to recording IVR. Much like most people, who wouldn\u2019t dream of designing their website themselves, outsourcing the voicing of your IVR prompts to an expert will elevate your small business, and conveys a level of professionalism which matches yours.<\/p>\n

If your communication solution comes from a world-class manufacturer — such as Grandstream — professionally-voiced, recorded and maintained IVR prompts are a natural dovetail with your system. Grandstream has been manufacturing award-winning IP Voice and video telephony, video conferencing and video surveillance solutions since 2002 and offer leading-edge IP products and solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by: \u00a0Allison Smith – Guest Blogger and Professional Telephony Voice This blog was originally posted on\u00a0Grandstream.com As a small business owner, your phone system sets the tone for callers....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1349"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1352,"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1349\/revisions\/1352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cohesiveglobal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}