Fluency Voice Technology: Personalising lead generation

A familiar dating agency-style formula is adapted effectively to personalise the marketing of a service that is essentially depersonalised.

The Site

Fluency Voice Technology produces speech recognition-based applications for call centres. Its website features a matchmaking Persona Survey, highlighted on the home page, that promises visitors the chance to find the right voice for their company’s scripted end of the application dialogue.

The survey’s opening page explains that its questions will give an insight into how Fluency makes the appropriate voice choice, and begins by asking the visitor to select between UK or US English (though the US option turns out to be “not yet available”). Five subsequent interactive pages help define the company’s market and customer profile (by gender, age, “company image”, geographical coverage and nature of service). Visitors are then introduced to “Your ideal persona” on a page that includes a photo, self-penned introduction and a Listen To… button that allows them to hear their ‘match’ going through a segment of a call-answering script. A right-hand menu gives the option to print or e-mail the page, or request a call.

The Takeaway

Fluency neatly adapts a familiar dating agency-style formula to personalise its marketing of a service – call handling without the presence of a ‘live’ sales rep – that is essentially depersonalised. Allied to the familiarity, well-designed structuring makes the survey easy to use while the engaging profiling features – photo, biography and speech extract – employ simple web technology to introduce and help you ‘identify’ with the person behind the voice.

The knock-back for US visitors is unfortunate – it would be better to exclude it as a ‘live’ option but say that a US version is coming soon. However, the further action menu turns the survey from simply a bit of fun into an entertaining but serious lead generator.

First published on 15 February, 2005