The success of your marketing efforts depends on how effectively you can communicate with your potential customers at every point of your sales funnel. You should provide the best experience possible both online and offline.
For instance, your potential customers can call you, and you should make sure that this way, the communication is as effective as when engaging with them online or in person.
As per Microsoft survey, as much as 60% of customers don’t complete their purchases because of the poor customer experience. If you want to drive more conversions, you need to optimise your online as well as offline customer experience. As much as 60% of customers don’t complete their purchases because of the poor customer experience.
One of the effective ways to improve the customer experience is to use IVR (stands for Interactive Voice Response) and help customers connect with your business as and when they need.
In this article, we will explain what IVR is and how you can use it to deliver better customer experience and make your marketing efforts more effective.
What Is IVR and How Does It Work?
IVR systems are a type of software created for calls. It relies on voice recognition or keypads. IVR systems don’t need anyone to direct calls and they save callers a lot of time. Big call centers need IVR systems to be able to control their call volumes.
Thanks to such systems, callers can quickly reach a particular department within a company and talk to the right person. IVR systems may work differently, depending on a company’s call network and its menu system.
Although there are many different IVR systems, most of them are based on the same sequence. First, callers dial in and listen to a pre-recorded greeting. After this, many IVR systems ask a caller to choose the preferred language.
Then the caller listens to different menu options. For instance, the system may offer them to press “1” for support service and to press “2” to talk to the sales department. The caller responds, and the call gets redirected to the necessary department or service.
Let’s dive a little deeper:
a) IVR Marketing Campaigns for Businesses
- IVR systems are not exclusively for large enterprises; they are equally valuable for small businesses and large companies alike.
- IVR solutions can be harnessed effectively for marketing purposes, enabling businesses to engage in IVR marketing campaigns.
- These systems serve as versatile tools for both inbound and outbound calls, supporting IVR advertising and lead generation efforts.
b) Enhanced Call Routing
- IVR systems significantly enhance call routing capabilities, which is a highly appreciated feature by customers.
- Quick and efficient call routing improves customer satisfaction and allows businesses to effectively manage IVR campaigns and sales IVR processes.
c) Reliability and Responsiveness
- IVR solutions empower businesses to enhance their reliability by responding to customer queries promptly.
- Quick responses are vital for successful IVR marketing and IVR sales efforts, helping build trust among customers.
d) Efficiency and Cost Savings
- Speech recognition and touch-tone IVR systems streamline inbound call processes, improving support staff efficiency.
- This efficiency boost translates into cost savings, making IVR an economical choice for marketing IVR campaigns and IVR lead generation.
d) Elevated Customer Experience
- IVR systems enable businesses to handle a higher volume of customer calls efficiently, thereby delivering an enhanced customer experience.
- The focus on customer satisfaction is integral to successful marketing IVR and IVR sales strategies.
Also, the benefits of IVR are not limited to efficient call routing. There are several key features of IVR that can help you with your marketing experience and delivering seamless customer experience:
Benefits of IVR: Marketing & Sales Perspective
On-hold messages
This is probably the most obvious area of application but it’s important to mention on-hold messages because you should take them into account while implementing an IVR system for your business. Some people think that they need to choose either IVR or on-hold messages. The truth is that, even though IVR can reduce on-hold time, it doesn’t eliminate it completely. The remaining on-hold time shouldn’t be filled with silence.
If you include an on-hold message, consumers will spend more time staying on the line. Such messages enable you to engage with your audience, telling them about your latest offers and promos. With IVR on-hold messages, you can:
- Demonstrate that you care about customers’ time;
- Engage caller with information on your products, services and offers;
- Reduce call drop rate.
Generating leads for marketing campaigns
Many marketers use IVR as a call to action. Besides sending emails and using ads, you can also encourage your potential customers to call on your IVR number and talk to you through IVR.
For example, you can ask people to take a quick survey or to find out whether they’re using the most effective solution or need to switch to your solution.
Once users call your IVR number and interact with the menu, it can seamlessly connect them with your sales representatives.
This system allows you to intelligently route callers to specific agents based on the IVR campaign they originated from, optimising the lead generation and sales process.
Regardless of whether callers make a purchase, you can capture their contact details and responses to your inquiries.
- IVR Lead Generation
IVR facilitates efficient lead generation by seamlessly connecting callers to sales representatives.
- IVR Campaign
Route callers to dedicated agents based on the IVR campaign they initiated, enhancing campaign-specific engagement.
- Sales IVR
Streamline the sales process by efficiently connecting potential leads to sales representatives through IVR.
- IVR Sales
Utilise IVR to improve sales outcomes and enhance customer interactions.
- Marketing IVR
Capture contact information and responses from callers, regardless of purchase decisions, bolstering your marketing efforts.
Scoring leads from calls before passing them to sales representatives
Thanks to IVRs, you can evaluate and score your phone leads to focus on the most promising ones.
Your IVR can ask various questions and qualify your leads for a particular campaign. You can determine the quality of your leads, knowing whether or not they’re ready to buy.
We recommend that you talk to your sales manager to know what questions they consider especially important when it comes to qualifying leads.
- Effective Lead Routing
IVR efficiently directs qualified leads directly to your sales team based on their scoring, optimising the conversion process.
- Customised Marketing Messages
For leads that don’t meet the criteria, IVR allows you to deliver tailored marketing messages to nurture and engage them.
- Multi-Level IVR
Employing multi-level IVR, you can utilise multiple IVR systems and route leads to a second IVR aligned with specific campaigns, enhancing targeting precision.
- Enhanced Qualification
Many companies employ qualifying questions in web forms, but IVRs offer a more effective approach by enabling immediate connection between leads and sales representatives.
Researching your audience preferences, needs, and habits
All marketers need to research their target audience to determine their purchasing needs and habits. Surveys are an invaluable source of insights into your customers’ behaviour and preferences. You can ask your audience about your products or services, as well as about the industry, as a whole. You can understand what they consider important, interesting, or convenient. You can also find many opportunities for growth.
Researching your audience with IVR surveys offers a high response rate and great flexibility. You can get feedback from your customers through automated IVR calls made with outbound calling solutions. You can change any questions or adjust them as you need while being able to analyse responses immediately. If you use an IVR system, you will save a lot of costs compared to hiring a survey team that can get expensive.
Expanding mobile marketing
IVR systems are used in marketing in many ways, and one of the main areas of application of IVR is mobile marketing.
Marketers always try to improve the online experience and keep optimising their web content for mobile devices.
However, people still use their smartphones to make calls. When they get a call from the brand they’re interested in, they are likely to engage and to interact with it.
- Cold calls can be challenging, but IVR offers automation to target potential customers effectively.
- Establishing an in-house IVR system proves cost-effective compared to outsourcing marketing campaigns.
- Utilising IVR is more economical than deploying in-house staff for similar tasks.
- IVR systems are integrated with analytics, enabling audience analysis and segmentation through daily call reports.
- Data-driven insights from IVR analytics enhance cold call effectiveness and enable tailored mobile campaigns based on audience needs and behaviour.
Improving customer support
IVR numbers can be integrated with toll free service. A combination of toll-free number and IVR works very well for customer support.
On your toll-free IVR number, customers can connect with your business anytime and get real time support through the IVR menu and your support staff.
Once they’ve finished speaking to a support agent, your IVR can ask them to provide feedback. You can also schedule IVR outbound calls to call your customers later for feedback.
One of the most important things about feedback is that it should be timely. Your customers’ feedback will be much more accurate if it follows a transaction because all the details are still fresh in their memories. Based on feedback received from your customers, you can see how satisfied your customers are with your customer service and how you can improve.
Sending notifications
The efficiency of IVR systems enables you to minimise the number of confirmation and follow-up calls that you should otherwise make.
An IVR system enables you to inform your clients about any important events or the status of their order. You can also send reminders, confirm meetings, and notify your potential customers about your products’ new features.
It’s important to note that:
- Building enduring customer relationships is vital for success.
- Loyalty is a universal requirement for all businesses, yet not everyone achieves it due to the challenge of keeping the audience engaged.
- Modern consumers prioritise swift and efficient communication, desiring rapid service delivery.
- IVR allows you to convey your commitment to their time and enhances the efficiency of communication, customer service, and the sales process.
Final thoughts on IVR for marketing campaigns & sales
IVR systems can benefit your marketing campaigns in many ways. They offer a simple way to interact with your existing and potential customers while enabling you to automate many processes and save time.
You can use IVR systems not only for notifications and customer support but also to get actionable insights into the preferences of your audience and to collect valuable and relevant feedback.
So, to sum up in quick manner, we can say:
- IVRs are valuable tools for lead attraction and qualification.
- Explore various IVR applications to discover new opportunities.
- Experimentation is essential for refining marketing strategies and optimising effectiveness.
