August 16, 2018

IVRs are a Necessary Business Tool for Today’s Consumer

Today, an increasing number of people take care of business virtually and they still want an exceptional customer-service experience. According to a Gartner study, by 2020, consumers will manage 85% of their relationship with a company without interacting with a human. The ARM industry is seeing similar trends.

BillingTree’s sixth annual ARM “Operations and Technology” survey found that 36 percent of responders are now relying on IVR, compared to 28 percent just last year. However, there is more work to be done. JD Power & Associates reported that IVR accounts for 27 percent of the total call experience, yet only 7 percent or organizations offer an IVR solution that delivers a better experience than their live agents—even with the low associated cost. Bills payment accepted via an IVR cost less than $1 per payment, compared to an average $30 per hour when an agent takes a payment.

An IVR allows consumers to do business when and where they want. They have 24/7/365 access to their accounts where they can update personal information; provide credit, debit card or bank account information to make single payments or pay on an established payment plan; or to set up a new payment plan. ARM organizations providing an IVR to consumers see increased payments and account settlements.

In fact, 28% of payments are made after hours. Not to mention the added benefits of payments posting the next day compared to waiting 7-10 days using traditional mail. Meeting consumers “virtually” and when they want to conduct business, results in more payments and account resolutions.

“To be successful in motivating people to meet their financial obligations, you need to make the process a positive experience,” said Dale Craven, RevSpring relationship manager.

Consumers are demanding an intuitive and positive experience. To meet this, IVRs should offer limited choices so consumers are not overwhelmed and abandon the call. They also should provide an easy way to speak with an agent, during business hours, should any issues arise.

IVRs also should offer language choices and be produced with high-quality scripts, digitally recorded by professional voice talent. According to the American Community Survey (ACS), 62.4 million citizens do not speak English as their native language. The most common non-English language spoken in the U.S. was Spanish at 12 percent of the overall U.S. population.

Finally, meeting needs of consumers also requires that an IVR be secure. Before consumers can open documents, their identity needs to be verified. RevSpring offers an IVR solution that meets all of these requirements and ensures data is PCI Data Security Standards-compliant.

As the consumer experience continues to shift virtually, the need for IVRs also continues to grow. Learn more about the benefits to your organization of using RevSpring’s Inbound IVR. Click here to register for a demonstration.