Have you really tried every possible method to enhance your political campaign? You know how dependent you are on polls to get information, public feedback and statistics. And of course data must be current if you want to base important decisions on them.

That’s why you need IVR (Interactive Voice Response) and all the benefits that come with it. Your polling can become faster, more accurate and yes, even less expensive.

Want to know how it works?

What is IVR?
It’s called Interactive Voice Response and it enables computer systems to interact with individuals to get important information from them. Outbound dialing puts computer systems in touch with individuals. Their responses to questions you need for polling can be captured via:

– Pressing buttons on their phone keypads

– The system’s voice recognition software

Don’t be put off by the idea of computers interacting with the public. Technology has developed so these calls are less cold and impersonal than you think. As long as you use the system wisely and create the right questions, you’ll get the feedback you need.

And don’t think this is the predictive dialer systems you’ve used in the past. It’s not about simply directing calls to staff members. It’s about getting feedback, processing this information and offer you results you can use. And it happens fast.

Here are all the ways your next campaign can be enhanced by this.

How IVR Transforms Campaigns

Be Relevant to Your Audience
You’re working with a modern society, that’s pressed for time, always in a hurry and mostly technologically orientated. Who doesn’t have a Smartphone these days, right?

Now imagine trying to stop people at a local supermarket and ask them for opinions, voting preferences or more in depth feedback. Almost no one will have time to spend on your poll.

But people love being on their phones. Over 90% of people have Smartphones and most spend almost three hours a day using them. And Smartphones travel with their owners so you can reach them no matter where they are. This is the platform where you can reach your audience.

Using outbound calling therefore shows you understand your public’s need for unique polling methods and you don’t waste their valuable time. This will put them in a more positive mindset about the polling, compared to being interrupted while shopping.

You Need Fewer Staff
Of course you don’t have time to contact large samples. But you only need one IVR system to handle thousands of these outbound calls on your behalf.

And who will convert the data you gather into a usable format? There’s no need for staff members to waste their valuable time anymore, because the IVR platform can do it for you.

More Accurate Feedback
Taking the human factor out of the equation has a few important consequences. All of them enable you to make more appropriate decisions, because your information is more accurate:

– When software processes your data and shows you a result, the chances of mistakes in the equations are minimal. You don’t have to double check or allow for human error.

– No matter how professional your staff members are, their voices will always carry emotion and can even influence those they call. Two workers may ask the same question with different voice intonations. Are the answers then completely unbiased? With an IVR system, all outgoing calls will be made in exactly the same way. Data procured from these calls are more appropriate for scientific or political use.

When you know how the people really feel, you can make more informed decisions.

It Can Happen 24/7
Why limit your campaigning and polling to office hours? Some in your community will be more open to answering questions at home than while they’re at the office.

An IVR system can be set up to work around the clock without anyone monitoring the process or cueing the next call. Now you can schedule calls at times your public will be available.

Of course this is also your solution to effectively reach people located in different time zones. Let technology empower you to get more done, even while you get that much needed sleep.

You Can Reach Large Samples
The more data you have, the more accurate your statistics will be. But imagine how many staff members you need to reach thousands of people.

IVR can manage such a large sample easily and you don’t have to pay for staff labor, space or telephone equipment.

You Save Time and Money
All of these benefits lead to important consequences that benefit any campaign:

– Saving your staff members’—and your own—time means you can get more done each day. You’ll get data faster, so you can make decisions earlier.

– Yes you’ll be using state of the art technology, but it will cost much less than getting the work done by your staff or hired personnel.

Now you can spend your funds on other campaign features that will make an impact.

Ringless Voicemails—The Marketing Tool You’ve Been Waiting for

What about the customers that don’t answer their Smartphones? IVR even has a solution for them.

People may not answer your IVR call for these reasons:

– They can’t answer their phones

– They don’t want to answer unknown numbers

– They may not hear their phones ringing

And you can bypass all these polling challenges.

Part of the three hours people spend on their phones every day, relate to personal administration. This includes checking their voicemails. You can be sure people do this every morning too. Don’t disturb your audience at night, but make sure they hear from you in the morning.

A ringless voicemail won’t cause a phone to ring, but deposits a message straight to a voicemail inbox. Let people listen to your voice recordings for that personal touch every campaign needs.

All you need is a clever call to action and a number they can return a call to. Let IVR answer, state survey questions and get the feedback you need.

Is there someone that specifically wants to speak to a representative? Make this one of the options and the IVR system can relay those calls to your staff. Now you know the people you allocate your staff’s time to, are the ones that are as passionate about the campaign as you are.

You can’t risk not using modern technology in your political campaign anymore. It’s how you stay ahead of your competition and it’s how you ensure your voice is heard. And with IVR more people will hear your message—and give you their opinions—than ever before. This is the solution you’ve been looking for.