Interactions Corporation 31 Hayward Street Franklin, MA 02135 317.810.4108 www.interactions.net contact@interactions.net twitter: @interactionsco

IVR in a Sales Center

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems have not traditionally played a significant role in sales-oriented contact centers, particularly those involved with complex products or services. The prominent thinking is that 'people do a better job selling than machines'. While that point might be true, an effective IVR can play a key role in a sales center even if the IVR does not take on the role of 'selling'.

IVRs should not take the place of highly skilled sales agents who are selling complex products or services. That does not mean that IVRs cannot do an adequate job “taking orders” for simple products such as an iPod, especially if the customer knows exactly what they want to buy. In that case an IVR with the proper understanding capabilities can collect all the necessary information to place the order. However for more complex purchases such as buying and configuring a computer or shopping for auto insurance, the IVR should play a different role.

The goal of the IVR in these types of sales should be to maximize the selling time of the sales agents, while providing a good experience for the customer. Through this approach an IVR can provide both an increase in revenue per call and a reduction in cost. This is accomplished by completing the following tasks that are important to contact center sales:

1. Call Routing - Identifies the purpose of a customer’s call, separates sales calls from non-sales calls and routes accordingly.

2. Initial Sales Discovery - Completes the opening data collection steps of identifying the customer, collecting profile information, etc.

Call Routing Benefits

For call routing, by effectively understanding the true intent of the caller, we have seen a reduction in non-sales calls to sales agents by as much as 60%. The following illustrates the potential increase in revenue per call in such a case. Assuming the following:

Average order size $1,000 Non sales call % 20% Average Revenue per call $800

With a 60% reduct ion in misdirected calls to sales agents, the following would be the new average revenue per call.

Average order size $1,000 Non sales call % 8% Average Revenue per call $920

In this case average revenue per call increased by 15%.

           

Interactions Corporation 31 Hayward Street Franklin, MA 02135 317.810.4108 www.interactions.net contact@interactions.net twitter: @interactionsco

There would also be an additional savings to the sales department for the calls that sales agents no longer need to handle. In this case 12 out of every 100 calls would be eliminated. These calls will either be sent to the appropriate department of handled via self-service. This savings could represent as much as $24 in savings per every 100 calls.

It is common practice to gather information from a caller before starting a consultative sales process. This discovery process can range from a few simple questions to gather the name and address of the caller, to completing a short discovery survey. In some cases such as insurance or loan quotes, the discovery process can last several minutes.

Interactions implemented a simple sales discovery system for a client that collected name, address, and email address from a customer before sending the call and the collected information on to a sales associate. The following illustrates the potential savings per call in a simple sales discovery process such as this.

Average seconds per call for:

Sales discovery 40 seconds Agent discovery cost per call $.66 IVR discovery cost per call $.22 Savings per call $.44

In addition, collecting the right information up front can enable you to better segment your customers, tailor offers, and match customers to the most appropriate sales agent. When you look at call routing and the sales discovery in combination-- the results can be even more impactful. However most IVR systems do not have the capabilities to achieve these benefits while maintaining a positive customer experience. In order to accurately capture data such as names and email addresses the IVR needs to understand as well as high quality agent. The IVR should also have the understanding capabilities and intelligence to enable a natural conversation that does not disrupt the normal sales flow. Fortunately, advanced technology is now available that enables these capabilities.

About Interactions: Interactions enables companies to more effectively interact with their customers. We provide an automated voice solution that leverages an unprecedented level of understanding-- enabling a productive two-way dialogue, quick responses to customer requests, and a natural and easy way to communicate. The added understanding capability enables a completely natural interaction, while providing the ability to accurately capture data such as: e-mail, log-ins, names etc. Moreover, Interactions can seamlessly handle accents and challenging noise environments. The net result? A self-service experience that’s as effective as speaking with a high quality agent.