The only effective way to capture the Voice of the Customer (VoC) is through post-call IVR surveys, where results are able to tap into the genuine experiences customers have with a product or service. The knowledge shared by the customer, and thereby gained and analyzed by the company, can lead to powerful change for the future improvement of the business. When executed well, post-call IVR surveys are the single greatest tool at determining customer pain and propelling businesses toward positive customer experience process improvement.
Most call center managers can agree that post-call IVR surveying is important, but many surveys fail in practice, first with the types of questions asked, and second with the length of the survey. Remember our discussion of market researchers versus customer experience analysts? When constructing your survey questions, be sure they are truly focused on the customers’ experience with your service (and product). Remember, a VoC customer experience approach seeks to holistically validate the customer findings and tries to answer the ‘why’ behind these critical metrics. If the questions in your survey have a market research focus, then your results will not return the customer-centric answers you need to achieve the change your company really wants.
The second pitfall of post-call IVR surveys is the length. Many believe if the survey is too long then the survey taker will abandon the survey all together. To combat this issue companies construct very short surveys with only a few questions. If the survey is too short in length with only a few questions, then not enough customer experience insight is gained. Do not assume things about your customers and the survey itself. You want to measure customer experience, but in trying to measure it you are imposing rules upon the customer and your own bias on what you believe a survey should be when you don’t really know. Each of our clients has slightly different survey lengths, each consistent with the level of involvement the customer has with the organization. While our experience defines the right length for a survey, we continuously monitor the customer acceptance.
Once you get the right mix of survey questions and length, the knowledge you gain from post-call IVR surveys really can effectively change your business and your processes for the better. Incorporating customer feedback into your daily call center workflow ensures you are achieving the highest levels of customer satisfaction – always. Happy and returning customers, lower agent churn, and higher overall call center performance will ultimately save you money in the long run all thanks to post-call IVR surveys.
For more information on post-call IVR surveying pitfalls and how to avoid them, download our free ebook and take the self-assessment here.
