Getting a customer to pay a bill is not always an easy task. Make the most of the time when you have them on the phone ready to move forward to make a payment. Having a credit card is a given, however you may require that the customer enter additional information for example an invoice # , statement #. Maybe you are prompting them to enter another piece of information for validation a telephone # associated to their account, the ZIP/postal code associated with the account, or any other piece of information that you may be required. It’s important to make sure they have access to the information they will need to successfully complete a payment. Depending on how they may end up in your IVR Payment line they may or may not have access to all information. When they don’t it will force your customer to call again as they may have to obtain all pieces of information. This is not what you want to happen, as it will cause a delay in the payment of your bill. The more information you require your customer to enter, the more prepared they will have to be. You want to make the process simple and fluid. Providing your customer with specific details of what they will need to provide is key to a positive customer experience. Depending on how you direct callers to your IVR Payment line here are a few quick tips that will help you enhance the experience and increase the payment completion rate.

For Self Service – Direct Dial (where you publish a direct telephone # to your IVR Payment line)

• If you are printing your IVR Payment line telephone # on your invoices make sure the invoice # is visible and close to the telephone # so as they pick-up the telephone to dial, the invoice # they need to enter is simple view.
• If you require that they enter a code they only know, print on your invoice where to find this code.
• If you require they enter the telephone # associated with the account make sure you print this on the invoice, people now days have multiple telephone #’s
• If you only accept Visa & MC vs. All cards, print the cards that are accepted on the invoice as well. This way they are prepared before they call.

For Self-Service – From your main telephone # (where you add a prompt to your business phone system to make a payment (Press X, to make a payment)

• Before transferring the call to the IVR Payment line provide your customers with information that will help them make a successful payment.
• As an example you may want to add an introduction for your customers to here prior to being transferred to the IVR Payment line:
• Example – Before we transfer you to the ( Company XYZ ) payment line, please make sure you have the following information: Invoice #, your 5 digit ZIP code associated to your account, and your credit information, when you are ready to make a payment, please press any key