A startup’s journey is never easy because you need to start from scratch and consolidate yourself as a brand. The biggest concern at this stage of evolution is to gather the desired resources within your limited budget. At the same time, there are some aspects that you cannot ignore despite the constraints of funds. Customer communication is one of these aspects. How can you imagine growth without establishing connections with your potential customers? This is something that you absolutely have to do if you want to go all the way ahead and build a brand out of your startup.
The answer lies in looking for ways to connect seamlessly with them without spending a fortune. If you are looking for a cost-effective communication solution, IVR is definitely an option worth considering. Also, you can enhance the quality of your services and customer support using IVR. Ultimately, this gives a massive push to your branding initiative, which can make a great difference during the crucial startup stage. Still, if you are not sure about an IVR system being a worthy investment considering a tight startup budget, here are some facts that will help you make a decision.
Everything that you need to know about IVR
Essentially, IVR or Interactive Voice Response refers to an innovative technology that facilitates interactions between humans and computers via voice commands or keypad inputs Typically, an IVR system uses pre-recorded menu options which are accessible to a customer through a phone keypad. Advanced systems include speech recognition software that enables a caller to communicate with a computer via voice. The prime objective of the system is to get input from callers for determining the relevant destination and route for them accordingly. Further, the system is capable of keeping track of the entire calls and providing real-time reports as needed by the business. It also has the potential to deliver exceptional customer service with minimal human intervention, thanks to its integration with innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing.
Why IVR makes an intelligent investment for startups?
Despite all that it offers, IVR is still affordable enough to be embraced by startups without second thought about their budget. If you are still not sure about the value of availing an IVR service, you can check out the long list of benefits that it can serve to your startup:
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Always stay connected:
For a business that is yet to become a brand, connections with the customers are vital. This is exactly what an IVR system can do for you. It has the potential to keep customer interactions on track from start to end. With this system in place, your business can stay up for callers at any time of the day, even while the teams are engaged in more important tasks.
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Personalize your connections:
Beyond just enabling seamless connections with the customers, IVR lets you personalize them according to the callers’ needs. For example, it lets you converse with them in their own language or provide very specific answers to their queries. Personalisation fosters loyalty and takes your startup one step closer to becoming a brand that everyone knows.
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Enhance customer experiences:
Obviously, when you are available 24 by 7 for customer support and service and go the extra mile to give them personalized response, enhanced experiences just happen naturally. Such experiences are the thing that differentiates businesses from brands. For this reason, IVR is one investment that you should not cringe at even if you don’t have big money at this stage.
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Make a professional first-impression:
Branding is all about making great first impressions,particularly when you are just starting up. IVR is a good way to present your business as a prominent organization that is willing to go the extra mile for ensuring excellence in customer service and support. Further, it gives you a competitive advantage because everyone in the industry probably has a similar system in place.
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Save while you spend:
Even while you collaborate with the best IVR service provider, you end up saving money for your startup in the long run. The system lets you reduce the need for extensive human resources, which can bring a significant cut in your operational expenses. So you have a more efficient but less expensive virtual receptionist instead of a real one!
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Enable parameter-based routing:
As a startup, you may not have a host of departments that the caller may need to connect with. Still, parameter-based routing is essential to route the calls and connect the caller with the right person. The parameters may be the caller’s location, call time, or new or repeat customers. This functionality ensures customer satisfaction and also lets you make the best out of the available workforce.
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Support your brand awareness campaigns:
Startups that aspire to grow into brands need to invest extra efforts with their marketing and PR strategy. Once again, these systems can help you with the same by enhancing the public image of your business. It can serve as a core element of marketing and brand awareness For example, you can use IVR to play welcome messages that contain promotional content, serve information on offers or even conduct surveys and polls.
How to leverage IVR for your startup’s branding?
Procuring and maintaining the initial infrastructure, including an IVR system, is an elaborate expense for any startup. However, cloud telephony and hosted services bring myriad opportunities to save time and money for businesses that want to invest in the technology despite their funding constraints. Leveraging a hosted IVR is a great idea because it lets you avail an IVR service via the cloud. Collaborating with such a provider eliminates the need for capital investment but still keeps you on top in terms of service quality and performance. Further, you get the advantage of 24×7 assistance from the provider, so downtime is never a concern. Scalability is another advantage of cloud-based IVR because it gives you easy upsizing and downsizing options.
What next!!
Now that you understand how IVR can handhold your startup and guide it along the branding journey, you will definitely want to have it as a part of your business infrastructure. What you really need to do is to collaborate with a top IVR service provider like Servetel and you can get started on the growth route. This is definitely one of the best decisions that you can take for your new business as it not only boosts your brand image but ensures resource optimization as well.
Make your business a big brand now. Reach out to use at 1800-120-4132 and start your journey.
