Don't Frighten Away Customers With These Automated Attendant Mistakes

Consumers have come to expect an automated attendant when calling a business. Done well, an auto attendant can lighten your call load, expedite customer service, and provide a fast and efficient experience. No more holding and waiting, no more runaround. But when done wrong, it may frighten away your callers.

To get the best results, your company simply needs to be aware (not scared) of the best practices and common pitfalls of using an automated attendant. Let’s look at what not to do, so you can prevent headaches for your customers.

Using a poor-quality recording

Your recorded messages should be scripted, rehearsed, and recorded carefully. Have a real employee make the recording with quiet surroundings. Have multiple people review it to ensure that the message is crisp and clear.

Having a bad attitude — or striking the wrong tone

Customers have a better experience when recorded messages sound friendly and upbeat –not spooky! A bored or irritable voice on an automated attendant can sound impersonal. It’s also bad for branding. Strike a tone that suits your industry, and make sure some positive energy comes across.

Failing to provide a way to reach a human

An automated attendant helps reduce your labor and time spent on the phone, but the ultimate goal is always customer satisfaction. If someone needs your business hours, they can hear them in a recorded message. When they have a question or don’t know whose extension to use, a customer expects an easy option for talking to somebody.

It’s complicated — too many menus and options

Walking your customers through a few prompts helps ensure that they reach the right party. Too many options, however, can be frustrating – and frightening! After a welcome message and a few questions about the purpose of the call, your customer should reach their destination.

Failing to customize features to serve your customers

Automated attendants have loads of customizable features. In addition to using individual extensions, you can have calls route to the next-available representative from a department. Calls can be routed to workers’ mobile devices. In short, your automated attendant can be optimized to provide your customers with prompt service and accurate routing. It’s well worth taking a moment to tool around with all the features.

Not teaching your staff about the system

Staff members who speak with customers on the phone — even if only occasionally — should have a good understanding of the system. They should know what the customer’s experience is like. They should also be able to handle basic questions about navigating the system.

With advanced technologies and a variety of solutions to serve different types of organizations, there’s a winning combination out there for yours. Contact Gaynor about finding an auto attendant solution that offers your customers treats and no tricks!

About Us

Gaynor Telesystems Inc. has been proudly serving the North State Communities of Chico, Yuba City, Marysville, Eureka, Arcata, Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, Redding, and Red Bluff for more than 40 years. We hope the information you found in this blog was useful. To learn more about how Gaynor Telesystems Inc. can help you install, maintain or service business communication solutions, please contact us at 877-Gaynor1.

Key Points to Teach Staff When Setting Up an Automated Attendant

Training has become a critical component of staff development. It is not uncommon in the work place for changes to require additional training. Whether you have an older phone system with voicemail or are getting a new system, adding an auto attendant will increase the need for staff training. Your reasons for an automated attendant can vary from needing less staff to answer the calls, to wanting a consistent message when each person calls in, or even that you are growing and want the calls to be answered in a timely fashion.

Whatever the reason, training is always a good idea. 

We recommend starting by advising the staff you are getting a new system and explaining how the system will work. A good vendor will provide training on how to answer calls and how to do the recording for an automated attendant. What a vendor cannot do is answer the why. As a boss you can answer the why. Once staff understands it will make the transition easier. Any business’s overall goal with an automated attendant is efficiency, but not at the risk of losing clients. So here are some key points.

Record Your Personal Voicemail Message

With an automated attendant, calls will now be directed to your extension without a person screening the callers. If you do not answer the call, it will be important the caller knows they got the right person, department or mailbox.

Return Calls/Messages

Nothing will frustrate callers more than leaving messages and not hearing back from someone. This is an important training aspect. Set time expectations on when calls should be returned. Maybe even in your recorded greeting you can state when you will call the person back.

Add Extension Numbers to Business Cards

You do not need to go out and spend the money to re-do all the cards, but when you place your next order, add the extension number to the card. This way it's easier for the caller because they will have an idea of what extension to press without having to listen to all the choices.

Update Your Email Address Signature

Just like your business card, add your extension number to the phone number listed in your email signature and it will make it easier for people to call you back.

An automated attendant can be a scary thing for a small business who has always answered its phone with a live person. As our lives move into a world of automation, it’s okay for a business to change. Just remember to keep that greeting short, sweet and to the point.

Do you want to know more about automating your system? Listen to our auto attendant by contacting us at 530-223-2979 - we like feedback just like anyone else! If you have questions, or would like to request a free demo with our sales staff to discuss your needs and how we can help you, contact us below.

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Basics of Business Communication Solutions: Automated Attendant

You’re already familiar with what an automated attendant is, you just might not know it. The greeting below might sound familiar:

“Thank you for calling The Tech Company, where business and technology come together." If you know your party's extension, you may dial it at any time. Otherwise choose from one of the following options. For sales, press '1'. For support, press '2'. For our regular business hours, press '3'. For accounting, press '4'. Otherwise press '0' for the receptionist or stay on the line and somebody will assist you shortly."

An automated attendant offers multiple business communication solutions for your company. It’s simply a greeting on your phone systems that gives callers multiple options. The example above is how an automated attendant might answer the phone at your business. You can view other sample greetings here. It’s the first touch point your caller has to your business before being routed to the correct person or department in your organization.

While some people may argue it’s impersonal or even annoying to have an automated greeting, it actually provides some great benefits.

• Consistency – You know when customers call they are receiving the same information. If your business has multiple offices an auto-attendant also allows you to have one number for all locations, providing a streamlined experience.

• Reliability – You know when customers call they will always receive an answer, even if they call after normal business hours or on the weekends. Different greetings can be recorded and set to automatically switch. For example, you can have greetings for specific holidays, on the weekend, or lunch hour.

• Efficiency – You know when customers call they’re routed to the department they need right away with the push of a button instead of being put on hold. You can also customize the call routing based on both individual and department needs. For example, if the customer is directed to the sales department the extension of the sales rep next in line for a call would ring, versus the service department where the first person available would take the call.

• Don’t have too many options – Your callers only have so much time and patience. They know why they’re calling and they don’t want to have to listen to a long list of options to get to who they need to talk to. It’s best to limit the list to 3 or 4 options.

• Provide an opt-out option – Some callers may have a question and don’t know which department they need to talk to. It’s important that one of your options can take the caller directly to customer service where they can speak to a live human being and get the answers they need.

• Make sure your greeting is professional and appropriate – Have an employee who actually works at your company record the greeting and make sure it matches the type of company you are. For example, your greeting might be fun and bubbly if you work at a school, but more on the serious side if you work for a law office.

An automated attendant provides some great communication solutions for your business, but there are also some best practices to be aware of when using the auto-attendant feature.

Remember, an automated attendant does not have to be impersonal. You can record the greeting to reflect your business’ personality and provide just the right amount of options to get the caller to the person or department they need to speak with.

To learn more about the auto-attendant feature and other business communication solutions, Gaynor Telesystems can evaluate the capabilities of your current phone system, recommend an upgrade if needed, and help you decide if an automated attendant is right for your business. Contact us below for a free demo.

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