Don’t Let Caller On Hold Time Kill Your Customer Experience

Let’s face it, businesses were already put into a bad situation once the pandemic hit, and now that’s exacerbated by just about every sector finding tremendous challenges in hiring personnel. This means most business are under staffed, and as a direct result causes longer on hold wait times.

Business is tough enough right now, and  it’s hard to deliver a great experience to callers after they’ve been put on hold. Most customers will tolerate a little hold time but will lose patience quickly, resulting in either an angry caller or – worse – an abandoned call. Either way, the result is a poor customer experience, something no company can afford to take lightly.

If you ask consumers what can ruin the caller experience for them? The on hold experience consistently is at the top of the list.

So, the question becomes: How can businesses enhance and improve the caller experience?… The Answer simple, Custom On hold Messaging.

Companies who have disconnect from the customer experience and the caller experience is a sure-fire way to deliver – and publicly spread the word of – a poor experiences at sites like #onholdwith

Rather than risk losing customers, if you’re looking to have a competitive differentiator, and improve the service you deliver – then one way to exceed customers expectations  is by delivering a high level of service with custom on hold messaging.

Delivering a high service level is the way to exceed customer expectations, which reduces customer attrition and can turn happy customers into loyal ones.

Providing poor caller on hold experiences is a solvable problem with professional on hold messages.

 On-hold Messaging Stats:

• Without messages or music, nearly 60% of businesses callers placed on-hold will hang up. Nearly 30% of these callers never call back.
  — CNN
• 70% of businesses place callers on hold, with an average hold-time of 45 seconds.
  — AT&T
• A study by US WEST reported that when companies played information on hold, caller retention increased by 40%, inquiries increased by as much as 15% and requests for services increased by as much as 12%. These are some impressive numbers, and they’re all due to efforts made before the customer talks to an actual person.
• North American Telecommunications Association revealed that callers hang-up faster during silence on hold. Callers will hold approximately 30 seconds longer when hearing music, and callers will hold up to 3 minutes longer hearing music coupled with information.
• 88% of callers preferred on-hold messages to other on-hold options, and close to 20% made a purchase based on an on-hold offer.

Consider replacing canned elevator music or dead-silence with the only proven positive on hold solution – on hold messaging which ultimately lowers caller abandonment and frustration while improving the customer experience.

Have you ever called your business to see for yourself what the caller on hold experience is like? You may be surprised at what you learn!

How many business owners or managers call their own company to truly evaluate the overall caller experience? The fact is very few. In reality, part of the customer experience is not only how patrons are greeted at the front door but the “phone door” as well. Everyone knows the cliché “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” however it is the absolute truth.

When the phone rings at your organization, what happens? 

Are callers sent through a series of prompts before they can talk to anyone? Does someone answer the call and immediately place the caller on hold? How long do customers wait? What do they hear while they wait?

How do your employees answer the phone? What about your auto attendant and voice mail greetings? Are they up to date, professional, and inviting? What do callers hear when placed on hold? Cheesy sounding elevator music, a local radio station…Dead air? Ninety‐four percent of marketing budgets are spent on enticing consumers to call but only 6% on handling that call. If you have never addressed the situation, chances are it could use some improvement. The good news is with a little planning and the right training you can create a great “phone door” for your patrons.

Final Thoughts….

There’s no substitute for a great customer experience. Customers will reward you for it, and by exceeding customer expectations, you reduce customer attrition and create loyal customers.

Original On Hold offers a risk free custom on hold message demo and budget friendly options to help enhance and improve the caller experience and your bottom line!