Pizza IVR Telephone Orders

[sourdough girl]

The automated system could prove to be better if it was designed right.
For example, say I always order a large pizza with sausage & mushrooms
and I like my crust extra crispy and a bit extra on the sauce. The automated
customer database would hold that info and it would help ensure that I
received the same product each time. Whereas, calling in an order, the
specifics may get misinterpreted, depending upon who was taking the order.

---pete---

So, if I read this part of your response correctly, you think a machine would be better than a human for taking the order because humans make mistakes and machines don't.   Hmmmm.....

And then there's the guy making your pizza... HE could make a mistake, too.  Isn't that just part of life with humans instead of machines?

I vote for the human in a customer service situation.
I worked in food service/customer service for MANY years.  Good customer service requires a human.  Mediocre or lazy customer service can be done by both human and machine, but I think human who uses the machine for his customer service guarantees it.

I repeat:  If I reached an automated service for my pizza order, I would hang up and never call again.
I'm willing to bet there are a lot more like me out there.... 

~sd

[November]

sourdough girl and Mike, but especially sourdough girl,

It sounds like you're against automated ordering systems in general because they are for want of a personal nature.  Well, there is already precedent for automated ordering systems that I'm sure you enjoy using, and they've probably been around since Johannes Gutenberg.  They're called menus, and they're printed using automated printing presses (or computer printers now).  As you attempt to make a point about keeping the personal interaction alive between customer and business, just remember the efficiency and error-free repeatability menus provide for the customer.  Also consider the menu's images that help to tell the story of what you are ordering.  Also consider the innate communication flexibility a menu affords by allowing each patron to explore his or her options at his or her own pace.  Now that's half of the ordering experience right there!  Do you really think having a server/waiter verbally list everything they offer, as some snobbish restaurants do, is better because it's more personal?

There is a difference between "customer service" and ordering mechanisms.  You can witness this at most department stores and supermarkets where customer service is a department and location unto itself.  Sure if there is a problem with an order or it's a special order one should be able to seek out human customer service.  However, I don't have to deal with minimum wage incompetence and attitude when I order something online, and I bet you order a multitude of things online for similar reasons if not for efficiency.  Then you make the point, "And then there's the guy making your pizza... HE could make a mistake, too."  Yes, of course he could, but there are at least two extra things going for you with an automated system: 1) The order is printed from a printer making it more legible for the employee. 2) There is an audit trail and you don't have to get into an argument about what you actually told the person you wanted to order.  A possible third benefit is ironically one that is more personal than a human could provide: 3) An automated ordering system can remember who you are are and what things you usually order among millions of people.

With all that said, I don't think IVRs will make any inroads in the business because they don't offer anything over Internet based systems.  People have been accustomed to ordering from visual menus for a very long time, especially when it comes to food, so the phone line should just be staffed by a human when the website doesn't have what the customer is looking for.

- red.november

[Essen1]

RN,

Have you seen the movie "Metropolis" and its "Maschinenmensch" creations? We're pretty much on its way if the current trend continues.

I understand what you're saying, especially in regards to Menus used as a form of simplified or ease of ordering, compared to having a waiter going down the list of food items. However, my gripe is not so much with implementing computer-assisted software if it makes the life easier for both the client and the customer. My gripe is the current trend toward less human interaction between client and business.

If you have ever been through a self-check out line, for example, and something went wrong with scanning an item, you still need the assistance of a human being in order to correct the error. So why not do it right from the start, minimum wage or not? Perhaps it's time for businesses to start paying a little better, because a few bucks more can be a good motivator, as can be fair benefits and the possibility to advance within the company.

Call your bank or cable provider and you'll see what I mean.

"Press 1 for English...Press 2 if you're a current customer, Press 3 if you have a problem with your Internet connection"....Silence, then..."If you have connectivity issues with your Internet, you can reach us online at blah, blah, blah"

Now imagine getting hold of a real person right away, be able to state your problem and have it fixed in a jiffy. Sounds good, doesn't it?

[November]

Call your bank or cable provider and you'll see what I mean.

"Press 1 for English...Press 2 if you're a current customer, Press 3 if you have a problem with your Internet connection"....Silence, then..."If you have connectivity issues with your Internet, you can reach us online at blah, blah, blah"

Now imagine getting hold of a real person right away, be able to state your problem and have it fixed in a jiffy. Sounds good, doesn't it?

Mike,

That's customer service, not ordering.  I would hope that the company isn't so bad that I'm calling them with more problems than orders.  And if I haven't made myself clear already, I don't like IVRs, so giving a bank IVR as an example does nothing for me.  Also for the record, I have had far, far, far more problems with checkout lines staffed by humans than self-checkout lines.  The disparity of convenience isn't even funny.

- red.november

[Essen1]

Alright, fair enough.

If you're talking about automated ordering systems, let me ask you this...

Who's putting together those orders in the end?

[November]

Who's putting together those orders in the end?

What do you mean by "putting together?"  Are you talking about packaging and shipping or something else?  If you're talking about ordering a pizza, people who make the pizzas "put" the pizza "together," but that has nothing to do with ordering either.

[Essen1]

RN,

I'm not talking about packaging or shipping. I'm talking about pizza ordering, or even ordering a burger. The food item doesn't even matter that much.

If you talking about shipping/packaging and tracking a certain shipment, UPS, FedEx and DHL have certainly put together recommendable systems, which work great online, by telephone and in person, given the fact that you have a tracking number. That kind of system is consumer friendly and helpful.

But when you go to Burger King, McD's or, God forbid, Jack in the Box, those guys who take your order punch in whatever you need or want. Right? Right. And they have menus on an overhead display, usually.

However, let's say you order a Burger, medium-rare, no onions, no tomatoes, large fries and extra mustard...90% of the time you'll receive your order wrong. It could be the fault of the guys in the back, misreading the monitors - that's where your minimum wage concern kicks in, or they are bound to be so fast in putting it together, by company rules and standards, that they actually don't take or have they time to fulfill your order correctly.

Now, if those "cooks" who put together for you a double stacked burger with no onions, no tomatoes, medium-rare patty and mustard would have talked to you face to face, and have written down the order instead of punching it into a machine, the burger might have turned out the way you wanted it to be in the first place.

Same with my business...I could have set up an automated system for lets' say watch battery replacement. The problem is, every quartz operated movement requires a certain battery. How's a client suppose to know the difference? It won't work without human assistance.

Same applies in the food industry, in my opinion.

[pbx800]

Hi,

Interesting thread. I represent 800 PBX and I couldn't restrain from adding my 2 cents.

Our IVR is not looking to 'replace' human agents but we are confident that it can certainly minimize the wait time and help bring in more revenue.


1- Wait time. "Please wait. All our representatives are busy assisting other customers. If you would like to use our automated processing system, please say "automated order" or press 1 and get additional 5% off or free extra cheese on the order."

I would prefer automated system rather than waiting 2-3 mins to reach an agent.

Remember the peak load times when customers were waiting? Are agents always reliable? Shouldn't we have some backup for taking orders. Younger generation love automation. If an IVR is designed properly, its an advantage.

2- Repeat orders. Many customers repeat orders and the caller need not wait till he reaches the agent. Our IVR system would say "Welcome back, Steve (people love hearing their names). I see that you have placed an order with us before - bread sticks, large pizza with mushroom etc. and diet coke. Should I order you the same again?" If yes, we can even ask "I have your old credit card on file. The card number ends with .." Do you want me to use the same credit card? I need the security (cvv2) code.


This filters out 40% of the orders. And no one would mind answering yes, no questions.


3- International population. Spanish customers prefer speaking with someone in spanish. Same with Chinese and Indians. IVR can offer the localized menu and take the order automatically. HUGE advantage compared to your competition.


4- Cross selling. Is the agent trained on cross selling combos (upsell)? Does he/she has the time to go over the options when there is a influx of calls.

5- Throughput. Can your telephony system handle calls if there is huge traffic of incoming calls?

6- Real time status. "Hi Steve, thanks for your order. It has been dispatched and should be at your door within next 5 mins." this can be integrated with the text alerts.

7- Reminders, alerts, coupons distribution can all be done easily.

8- Names & addresses - we get few through the phone number directly and this saves lot of hassle to say the name and addresses. Of course, the caller can also say something different. It can take addresses (street names, apt nums automatically based on zipcode) and even bill the customers on their credit card using your merchant card provider.

How many people use self checkout in the malls? Why do they do so? Isn't it more laborious? Does it violate good customer service?

Pete-zza

There are some limitations (e.g., you can't specify different toppings on different parts of the pizzas).

>> Thats customizable. You can order more than one pizza with different toppings.

November

I'm guessing it also lacks the ability to specify a delivery address or a delayed time (e.g. call at 4:17 PM for a 6:30 PM pick-up). 

>>
Thats customizable as well.

petef

Press 1 for large pizza with sausage & mushroom.
Press 2 for medium pizza - plain.
Press 3 for large pizza - plain.
Press 4 for large pizza with pepperoni.

- Everything is speech driven.

Essen1

Who's putting together those orders in the end?

>> Its the system which takes credit card and even bills the customer It can be tied up with your POS.


I am open to any feedback.

Thank you, guys!

[November]

Mike,

The error prone human in your example just made the case for removing as many minimum wage error prone humans as possible from the ordering experience.  Restaurants who have people that both take orders and cook the food are rare for a reason: division of labor improves performance and proficiency.  So that error prone human you have making the mistakes in the preparation of food now gets to try his hand at taking orders and make mistakes there too.  How is that better?  In your ordering model he has twice as much to do, so twice as much to forget.  People who don't work in the fast food industry don't seem to realize what it takes to be fast.  Other industries pay more, and therefore acquire more skilled labor, which per chance might include someone skilled enough to accomplish order taking and food preparation at the same time without making mistakes, but it still won't be fast.

However, if you want to downgrade the contribution a human order taker makes by giving him fool-proof tools such as an automated, and possibly even scripted POS, what is ultimately your point?  How is a human employee pressing buttons on a machine like a robot any better than the person giving the order pressing buttons on a machine?  I think you know the answer is that it isn't because the human isn't really the order taker anyway.  The machine is.  The human is just a fuzzy information layer that can answer questions if posed, maybe.  Again, customer service will never be outmoded.  It can coexist with an automated ordering system.  Arbitrarily adding a human in the ordering process just for the sake of human interaction is just sad.  If people are that desperate for human interaction, they should join a lodge or attend more community events.  You know, where people have fun without cash registers.

- red.november

[November]

November  >>
Thats customizable as well.

Just saying that it's customizable doesn't mean anything.  I can't imagine a reliable IVR with voice recognition attached to an expert system that can anticipate and process all the possible ways a person could give their address and delivery instructions.  That might as well be the "please leave your address and delivery instructions after the tone" part of the IVR system.

[Pizza_Not_War]

Danger, Will Robinson!

[Essen1]

RN,

That's an interesting theory. I'm going to bed now and will respond to that tomorrow.

And for those, who don't or didn't know what "Danger, Will Robinson" meant, neither did I, so I looked it up. Always trying to learn something every day, you know...

Well, this is what I found...

"“Danger, Will Robinson!” is a catch phrase from the classic 1960s American television series Lost in Space. The Robot says this to the child Will Robinson.

In hacker culture and in English-speaking society, this catch phrase currently serves to inform someone that they are about to make a mistake—that there’s a factor he or she overlooked which ought to be taken into account.

When given in person, the vocal klaxon is more-often-than-not accompanied by a brief and careful oscillation of one’s arms to and fro and up and down, parodying the body language of the original chrome-plated character."

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger,_Will_Robinson

[November]

Danger, Will Robinson!

For those of you who don't like the idea of machines taking over traditional business roles, you can always move to China where you can interact with sweatshop workers all day long.  There are nearly seven billion humans on this planet and yet people still manage to complain about fewer human interactions.  That's simply amazing.

[petef]

So, if I read this part of your response correctly, you think a machine would be better than a human for taking the order because humans make mistakes and machines don't.   Hmmmm.....

And then there's the guy making your pizza... HE could make a mistake, too.  Isn't that just part of life with humans instead of machines?

I vote for the human in a customer service situation.
I worked in food service/customer service for MANY years.  Good customer service requires a human.

Ah yes, read *all* my posts carefully and you will see that we agree to a large degree.
I don't advocate using a machine to take place of the human for special orders. I believe
the automated pizza ordering system should heavily involve human interaction of the
pizza operator. Human interaction is escential for personalized service and ordering.
Then have the human enter each customer's preferences into the "machine" and allow
the machine to handle just the repeat orders involving those customer preferences.

Machines out-perfom humans for repeative tasks and where a human's memory or
language skills fail. This is why I say only use the automated system for repeat orders
of regular customers who basically order the same few items over and over again.

Take my example in this thread (reply#10), the customer picks up the phone,
presses, 2, 1, 2, 1, and answers YES to confirm the order and he is more likely
to receive the same food product each and every time. It would also be so
much more convenient and faster than talking to a human that the customer
may be more prone to order using the automated system. Again, this is just
for repeat orders of the same few customer's favorite items.

Where the REPEAT ORDER AUTOMATED SYSTEM can out perfrom the human
is in the details held by the customer database. Fine details such as the
customer's preference for how crispy to make the crust, or do they like
the topping to go close to the edge, or do they like a larger crust rim.
Details that no human could remember for all their customers.

The automated system I have in mind would require the pizza operator
to know his customer so well that he could add all those fine details
about his customer's preferences into the "machine". The machine
would serve the customer by accurately communicating all those
personal preferences back to the pizza operator which would help
to ensure that the customer receives the exact same product each
time he re-orders the same thing.

---pete---

[petef]

I repeat:  If I reached an automated service for my pizza order, I would hang up and never call again.
I'm willing to bet there are a lot more like me out there.... 

Ah, that is a very good point. Thank you.

The automated system must initialy ask the customer if they'd like to
speak directly to a human. It must also ask the customer if they'd
ALWAYS like to speak to a human which would result in the automated
system being bypassed for all future calls by that customer based upon
caller ID.

If an automated system causes the loss of one customer, it has failed.

---pete---

[petef]

Call your bank or cable provider and you'll see what I mean.

"Press 1 for English...Press 2 if you're a current customer, Press 3 if you have a problem with your Internet connection"....Silence, then..."If you have connectivity issues with your Internet, you can reach us online at blah, blah, blah"

If the pizza ordering system was designed like banking system it would surely fail.
Bottom line, the automated pizza ordering system must make it MORE CONVENIENT
and EASIER for the customer, otherwise it will surely fail.

---pete---

[Jackitup]

I would be more receptive to ordering online than the robot telephone, I would keep hitting '0' till I got a real person, just like any other robot answering system I get. Everyone hates the robot answering thingy....
Jon

[petef]

petef

- Everything is speech driven.

As long as it accepts speech or key presses.
So many times I get frustrated and annoyed with automated
sytems that make me repeat simple words like.. YES.
Key presses are sooooooooooo much more reliable.

---pete---

[sourdough girl]

sourdough girl and Mike, but especially sourdough girl,

It sounds like you're against automated ordering systems in general because they are for want of a personal nature.  Well, there is already precedent for automated ordering systems that I'm sure you enjoy using, and they've probably been around since Johannes Gutenberg.  They're called menus, and they're printed using automated printing presses (or computer printers now).  As you attempt to make a point about keeping the personal interaction alive between customer and business, just remember the efficiency and error-free repeatability menus provide for the customer.  Also consider the menu's images that help to tell the story of what you are ordering.  Also consider the innate communication flexibility a menu affords by allowing each patron to explore his or her options at his or her own pace.  Now that's half of the ordering experience right there!  Do you really think having a server/waiter verbally list everything they offer, as some snobbish restaurants do, is better because it's more personal?


- red.november

Sorry, november, but your "menu" example doesn't work.  I understand the point you are trying to make, BUT, all restaurants now have menus. 
Whether you sit in a fancy restaurant or order pizza, there is still a menu.  In a fancy restaurant, a HUMAN comes to your table to take your order from the menu.  With a pizza joint, one of the employees takes your order from the menu.  There is still a human interface in both examples.  A Johannes Gutenberg invention has not changed anything in recent history.

I am backing out of this discussion because I have stated my personal preference and discussing it won't change that preference.  If people want to listen to a robot take their order, so be it, but I will not order food from any establishment who doesn't care enough about their customers to talk to them personally.  I should not have to TELL them, via robot, that I would rather speak to a human.

I'm like Jackitup, when faced with an automated system, I just keep pressing "O" until the system figures out that I want to speak to one of my own species.

~sd

[November]

Sorry, november, but your "menu" example doesn't work.  I understand the point you are trying to make, BUT, all restaurants now have menus.

Have you been outside of the first world countries much?  You don't think the example works only because you have become acclimated to it in our modern culture.  People in third world countries would try to make the same argument you just have, but even include menus in that argument.  Not only do some regions of the world not have menus, but many don't even have set prices because they expect you to negotiate the price.  Translation: They expect you to interact with them more than you would here in the United States.  Go back even further in time or deeper into certain indigenous cultures and you don't have restaurants at all.  A restaurant in some cultures would be too formal.  Translation: They prize the human experience of eating together more than the exchange of goods or services.

It's called business.  If you want something more human than business, you shouldn't live in the midst of capitalism.

- red.november