Nearly nine-in-10 (88%) of consumers prefer speaking to a live agent rather than using a phone menu, according to phone menu research released today by Clutch.The findings complicate the issue of balancing the quality of the customer experience and budgets for companies that want consumers to use automated communication to save the company time and money.
The research said that almost three-fourths of people (72%) always or frequently end up speaking to a human after encountering an IVR menu.
Therefore, prior to implementing a phone menu, businesses should ensure that the technology will benefit the customer, not just the bottom line, according to Clutch, adding that if the phone menu will only frustrate customers, it shouldn’t be used.
One particularly nagging issue about phone menus is the duration, the research found. Most people ranked listening to irrelevant options (69%) in their top three most frustrating issues with phone menus, followed by an inability to fully describe their issue (67%) and a lack of human interaction (43%) as their top complaints.
Businesses realize that a phone menu won’t be able to answer every customer’s needs and therefore must always include the option to speak to a human. If callers cannot reach a human, they often take actions such as pressing zero (70%) or saying words like “agent” (65%).
“Companies still need human representatives to handle the complexities of certain voice-interactions that cannot be satisfactorily synthesized and automated,” said Chris Connolly, vice president of product marketing at Genesys, in a prepared statement.
“If [a phone menu] is going to more quickly resolve a customer’s issue and better route them to the right person they need to talk to, it’s definitely beneficial,” said Tania Kefs, vice president of customer relations at Aircall, in a prepared statement.