Somewhere our there right now is a guy designing another set of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) prompts. With absolutely no appreciation for the irony, he works in the Customer Service department. He most likely works hard, means well and doesn't consider his work to be evil. He probably takes pride in his work. After all, there is a good reason for each of these prompts, for example, to route inquiries to the right department and to track volumes by category.
But stop and ask yourself a question—do you believe that this guy enjoys IVR prompts when he is on the other end of the phone as a consumer? Is he disappointed if a live person answers the phone?
Of course not. In real life, he is a customer; he is trying to get a question answered or a problem solved. And he is resentful of companies that don’t value his time or his business.
So what’s the disconnect? Aren’t we talking about the same guy?
I believe the disconnect is “inside-out thinking.” And it transforms the way we think when we get to work.
From the inside out, every one of the prompts makes sense. The prompts solve a problem, enhance a report or reflect the corporate organization chart. They are for the company, not for the customer. And because there are teams of people inside the company trying to solve problems or cut costs, there will probably be another release in a few months that comes complete with new prompts to solve these newly identified problems.
But from the outside in, from the customer’s perspective, everything looks different. Nothing about an IVR prompt says, “We care about your time and value your business.” An automated voice doesn’t hold the same value of a friendly, helpful voice of a live customer service representative. An automated voice can’t build a relationship between the customer and your company.
Do you ever try to access your company or department as a customer? How does your service look from an “outside-in” perspective?