So, Where’s The Next Available Operator?

Once you have put your caller on hold, the worst thing you can tell them is: “Thank you for holding, your call is important to us.  The next available operator will be with you shortly.”

Yes, the first time your callers hear these lines, they may feel reassured.  “Sure, well I can wait for a while,” they may all say, humming a cheerful song while waiting for “the next available operator.” But as seconds turn into minutes, they would start to think of you as a bunch of deceitful folks.

So here’s some friendly advice: stop trying fool your callers.

No matter how pure and genuine your intention is, these words just won’t put your callers at ease – especially when played multiple times. They will just be reminded of their wait. Worse, they may even feel that they have been on hold longer than they really are. So come to think of it, this kind of generic courtesy on-hold message actually does more harm than good.

What these cliché statements do is the opposite of what they say. That is why we advise our clients to stay away from ineffective and unnecessary courtesy messages and instead, we suggest that they replace them with useful and exciting information. For example, instead of telling your callers again and again about how you value them and their time, why not update them on your company’s new services? Instead of trying to make your callers feel reassured by promising that “the next available operator will be with them shortly,” why not promote your website or Facebook page?

Courtesy messages are tolerable if the wait is short, but sadly, that is not the usual case. Often times, callers are made to wait longer than they should, so instead of leaving callers to try and solve the million dollar question: where exactly is that next available operator? You should entertain and educate – using that hold time productively, these are the goals that every on-hold message should aim to attain.