Saturday, February 14, 2009

Closing the Dialog -- Part II

4. Provide the option to cancel a transfer to an agent

After providing the user with an estimate of how long it will take them to reach an agent, provide the user with the option to cancel the transfer and to either return to the self-service dialog or to leave a voice mail.

5. Keep the “while you wait” recording relevant

Users hate to be placed on hold. But what they hate more is being forced to listen to marketing pitches that are not relevant to their needs. Recordings that you play while the user is waiting need to be geared towards helping the user solve the problem they called about – or at the very least, they need to be relevant in some way to who the user is. For instance, if the user is the user has a dangerously low checking balance and the system determines that they are in danger of bouncing checks, the system can suggest to the user to request from the agent information about the overdraft protection plan.

6. Keep the user’s state of mind when you play the “while you wait” recording

Make sure your system is sensitive to the emotional state of the user. If the user is likely to be frustrated or angry (for instance, they are opening a new ticket or want to get the latest status of a ticket they opened), having the system boast about how the company had just won an industry award is likely to trigger a sarcastic sneer from the user.

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