Your Call Menus Can Turn off Your Customers

In a article regarding a study by J.D. Powers about customer service for cell phone companies, released on January 25th, automation for callers has a direct negative effect on customer satisfaction rankings. It seems that getting help is the biggest obstacle, when menu options don't make sense, whether DTMF or Speech, then the quality is totally compromised. Also, when the caller is not routed to the right department or agent, then first call resolution is compromised.

...customers who speak with a live agent on the telephone provide an average index score of 127 points... However, customers contacting their carrier through an ARS (Automated Response System) system rate their experiences significantly lower, averaging just 92 index points.

The largest declines were reported for customers experiencing too many prompts before getting to the desired menu and a lack of relevant menu options to address their needs.“That’s typical,” Rolandi explains. “If the interface of the machine is easy to use, most people will not mind, but that’s usually not the way it is. Most of the VUIs are just these time-consuming, laborious chores to get through.”

The average number of contacts necessary to resolve an inquiry by phone is 1.87 up from 1.76.