IVR – Top 3 Call Drivers

IVR – TOP 3 Call Drivers

My company (a Paid TV Service company) is trying to better understand our top 3 call categories. More specifically, we are trying to determine if Billing/Payment and Non-Customer Service calls are the norm for other larger companies that offer IVR based solutions as well as front line agent support.

Please note that I am discussing actual calls to agents and not those resolved while in the IVR.

Currently, our Top 3 call categories to agents are:

1. Payments (balance inquiry, need to make a payment, payment sent/status, update payment info, etc)
2. Charges (explained bill, refund information, equipment upgrade charges)
3. Non Customer Service (tech, international, sales, partner, etc)

My questions to you all are, without divulging your company or business, what are your Top 3 call drivers? Do you find that billing and payment calls are top on your list regardless of which tactics you have employed to reduce those calls.

Many thanks in advance,

Question asked by Thomas

Top Three

Not sure that it’s relevant to you but…

As a gross measure I’ve had a look at the traffic across
our named skillsets and, with a few caveats…

We tend to follow a similar pattern IF we exclude
calls relating to Claims or Claim administration.

So.. Payment info, sales queries, renewal queries,
Address changes and general Admin, Others.

Not a lot I’m afraid, from a VERY unscientific sample… {GRIN}

At least it’s an indicator.

With thanks to Dave

 Large companies experience the same top calls

This is exactly what I was getting at… do other large companies experience the same top calls into their IVR: Payments, Billing, Charges, etc.

I understand that their are always opportunities to reduce call volume, but also understanding what the top call categories are in the industry and outside of it amongst other companies is crucial to understanding if we are along in this endeavor.

Anyone else care to chime in on your companies top calls to the call agent?

With thanks to Thomas

Ignore Them All

If I were you I would ignore everyone else and just study your own situation which you are doing. Don’t look to see if you are doing the same as others, they are doing what they do to suit them. Look at your own data, draw your own conclusions and act upon them. Benchmarking is costly and doesn’t tell you anything useful about your own position.

The other thing is, I wouldn’t say that the category of call (claims, billing, etc) is very important, more the type of call. Is it wanted or unwanted? Get rid of the unwanted (I can’t understand my bill, my service is broken) and design your system to serve the wanted calls.

With thanks to Rob

IVR Top 3

I agree 100% to not follow the masses or the flocks of sheep; however, we feel that it is advantageous to better understand the industry and the flow of calls to other IVR systems. This should be helpful to us in focusing on the lower hanging fruit (lower ROI’s) and some of the other call categories while placing less focus on the Top 2 or 3 (Billing & Payments).

Then again, with the economy the way it is I can foresee this being the trend for quit a long time.

With thanks to Thomas

Can You Elaborate?

I understand why people look around at what other people do, it is kind of natural. But can you elaborate your thinking and method for me? I suspect that others might find this useful.

You say you would like to “understand the industry and the flow of calls to other IVR systems”. Once you have that understanding how will that influence what you do in your company. I know that perhaps you haven’t looked yet, but imagine a for instance.

With thanks to Rob

Feedback

Thank you all for your feedback.

I wanted to basically understand if other larger companies seen Billing & Payment calls as their top call drivers as well… This would help shift some of the focus from those areas and move onto other “lower hanging fruit”.

With thanks to Thomas

Author: Jonty Pearce