We’ve all been on hold and experienced a mellifluous voice telling us to “dial 1 for accounts” or “please hold for all other enquiries”, but often business leaders are unaware of just how important the right voice can be. The quality of your telephone messaging can often be the difference between a positive customer experience and one that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. What’s more, using professional voice prompts can deliver important benefits to customer and business alike, here are the top 5.
1. First Impressions Count
We’ve all heard the old adage about first impressions counting, and it’s difficult to think of a more poignant example than the impression your customers are left with after they telephone your business for the first time.
Even in today’s market where the internet rules supreme, the most meaningful interaction a customer is likely to have with your business is via phone. So, it’s vital your automated messaging is up to scratch.
Depending on which research you follow; first impressions are formed in anywhere between 1/10th of a second and 7 seconds. What’s more, a staggering 83% of consumers avoid a company following just one bad experience with its automated answering service. Which means that those first few seconds of a customer phone call could be the difference between retention and potentially losing a customer for good.
A poor set of recordings for a phone system can negatively impact the caller’s experience, causing frustration and disengagement with your business. Background noise, microphone feedback, and amateurs who speak too quickly, enunciate poorly, or are difficult to understand are all major problems that can ruin the quality of a recording.
Simply greeting customers with professional, clear recordings that convey warmth and tell them what they need to know quickly, can make a world of difference to how your business is perceived.
2. Break Down Language Barriers
Modern business is a truly global endeavour and even SME's will secure international customers given the reach of the internet. Which means that for most business there are times when non-English speaking customers will need to contact your business.
Aside from the obvious challenge of finding a native speaker to voice your IVR, this presents a couple of other thorny issues. Firstly, ensuring nothing gets lost or miscommunicated in the translation process—for example, while your script may sound great in English it may not perform quite as well when translated into Cantonese. Secondly, picking a voice with an accent that sounds professional to native speakers can prove tricky.
Using professional voice actors can solve these issues. Most are native speakers and are only too happy to provide pointers on whether your script sounds “right” or translates well into the language—removing the risk of embarrassing miscommunication. Additionally, professional voice actors will have been picked based on their ability to speak with the correct corporate accent for the country in question, meaning a great impression of your business wherever your customers are in the world.
3. Pick the Perfect Tone for Your Business
It’s incredibly rare for a business to have professional voice talent in-house, even less so one that conveys the tone of the organisation perfectly.
At a stretch, most businesses will have a couple of employees with “nice” voices who sound good on a recording, but this is still a long way from the quality a professional can offer. “Sounding good” is not the same as clear enunciation or a recording that isn’t punctuated with “
Using a trained professional speaker not only avoids these little speech foibles we all have—particularly when being recorded—it also allows you far greater scope for finding and establishing the voice of your business. Most providers will be able to offer you a wide choice of voices and, once you’ve picked, it’s usual for the actor to work with you to get the delivery just right for your business.
4. Consistency
Another aspect of telephony messaging that can be difficult to achieve without professional input is consistency. We’ve all used an automated messaging system that seemingly had a different speaker on each step of the call flow, mingling accents, intonation, speaking speed, and pitch. Think back, did that leave you with the impression the business you were dealing with was organised and professional, or a bit of a mess?
Chances are it was the latter.
Inconsistency in recordings isn’t usually down to a willful disregard for customers, it’s just what happens in business. Staff come and go, different options and departments are added to the call flow, and it can be hard to keep track of who recorded what.
The simple solution to this is to use a single professional voice for every step of the journey. Customers are met with a familiar and easy-to-understand voice throughout their call, reducing the likelihood of frustration or miscommunication of options.
What’s more, it removes the dilemma of what to do when employees who’ve contributed to voice recordings leave. Do you re-record all your messages to maintain consistency with any new recordings you make, or do you continue using the departed employees recording? Bearing in mind that many
Whereas with professional recordings, there are no legal pitfalls to be wary of nor a limit on how long you can use the recordings for. Better still, when you need new or additional recordings you can simply choose the same voice talent, ensuring consistency throughout your messaging.
5. Clear Messaging
Finally, one of the aspects of automated telephone messaging most likely to lead to a lacklustre customer experience is poor communication. We mentioned earlier the “
If customers can’t understand the recording or the options being laid out for them, it’ll very quickly lead to frustration—indeed according to an American Express survey, 67% of consumers have hung up due to frustration at an automated system.
Using a professional voice negates most of these issues: recordings are created in a purpose-built studio rather than at the end of someone’s desk in a busy office, the actors themselves are specialists in clear, concise delivery, and have built up expertise on what works best for a corporate setting.
At PromptVoice, we know a thing or two about what makes a good IVR recording. Since 1994 we've supplied over 500 corporate customers with the very best voice prompts the industry can offer, becoming the market leader along the way. Available in over 50 languages and compatible with all major IVR systems, we've got everything you need to make your business stand out whatever your industry. To learn more about how we can give your telephone system the edge, get in touch today
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