4 ways to make your phone menu friendlier

A choice menu is one of the most requested features at the Belfabriek. What a choice menu is is well known, but what makes the difference between a good and bad choice menu?

In recent years, we have set up thousands of choice menus for companies. Based on this experience, we give you 4 tips that will help you set up a customer-friendly choice menu.

Tips for a customer-friendly choice menu

If you take these simple tips into account, the caller will be glad your phone number has a drop-down menu !

• Always try to keep the drop-down menu as 'shallow' as possible. So: 1 layer with 5 choices instead of 2 layers with 3 choices each;

• List the most frequently used options first in the drop-down menu;

• Use short texts, allowing customers to get to the final destination faster. Rather use: "1 for sales" instead of "choose 1 for the sales department". The caller often understands the meaning perfectly well;

• Be mindful of callbacks and avoid texts that "welcome" as this can cause irritation.

• Also make sure that the phone system responds to a caller's choice already during the playback of the selection menu. This way, customers spend less time in the menu.

• Have the text recorded by a professional voice; this will give your organisation a professional impression.

Frequently asked questions

I don't want to record the texts of the choice menu myself, can you help me with that ?

We can have the texts of the choice menu by our speechbot or we can have your texts spoken by a professional voice. The latter option does incur extra costs. If your menu changes frequently, choose our voice bot first, so you can change texts faster.

How can I ensure calls reach the right department ?

Tell us which (virtual) departments and the corresponding choice in the phone menu. We will then ensure that the telephone call goes to the right person.

I want callers to be able to move quickly through the call menu if needed for better customer satisfaction.

Our phone menu responds immediately when a choice is made in the selection menu, even while the message is still playing so callers can quickly speak to someone. That way, your company gets a better impression.

Is there any logical order as far as the whole drop-down menu is concerned ?

A logical order in your phone menu is from most dialed department first to least dialed department last. This way, you ensure that a caller gets someone on the line as quickly as possible.

If someone calls outside opening hours, can I have callers speak into the answering machine?

If someone calls outside opening hours, we can turn on voicemail so people can leave a message. That way, you leave a good impression.