Every second of your customers’ time is valuable, and they know it. Their experience when calling your business can have a major impact on your reputation and bottom line. This guide will explain the psychological effects of waiting on hold and give you strategies to reduce your hold times and improve the customer experience.
Every customer calling your business has a need they want met as soon as possible. This means frustration can set in, especially if the customer feels that your business undervalues their time or they doubt whether a satisfactory solution is on the way.
The longer your hold times, the greater the demand you put on your customers’ time, attention, and patience — and the more likely they’ll hang up.
As instant gratification becomes the standard, many find waiting for more than a minute or two unacceptable. For example, in 2023, state call centers nationwide faced an influx of calls as millions of Medicaid recipients risked losing coverage. In Utah, the average wait time was 35 minutes in May, with 25% of callers hanging up. In Nevada, more than half of all callers hung up. Minimizing call center wait times is essential for keeping callers on the line.
While the ideal outcome is to avoid putting customers on hold altogether, holds are sometimes necessary. Customers may be more willing to wait, and even underestimate how much time is passing, if:
The most immediate consequence of long hold times is customers hanging up. If potential customers call to ask about your products or services, this could mean losing sales. For existing customers, the poor experience could drive them to a competitor. In either scenario, your profits take a hit.
However, the consequences of hold time frustration go beyond the customer dropping the call. People may complain to friends and family about poor customer experiences and even post online. This means that a few extra minutes on hold could be the difference between gaining or retaining a customer and having your business’s public reputation undermined.
Reducing hold times can unlock tangible business benefits, including:
To reduce hold time frustration and capture every opportunity, start with these seven strategies.
The first 30 seconds impact whether the customer will wait to engage with your staff or hang up. Ensure your company greets every caller with a warm, professional voice. The goal is to establish trust right away. This way, if you have to put them on hold, they understand why and believe the service will be worth the wait. Callers need to know there are people on the other end of the line who care about their needs and are working to help.
Some companies rely on automated systems to engage callers, but these can leave people feeling lost between cookie-cutter menus, impersonal messaging, and long waits. A better solution is to use a live answering service. This ensures every caller encounters a real, empathetic person trained to listen to and meet their needs.
Unlike automated systems, a well-trained live agent can meet most of your callers’ needs without putting them on hold. If they need to transfer the call or put it on hold, they can explain the reasons and follow up to improve service speed and satisfaction.
Call routing systems can send calls to different lines depending on the day, time, location, or options selected by the caller. Each call gets connected to the right person, minimizing hold times and transfers.
Though often associated with large businesses that have multiple departments, call routing works for small businesses, too. For example, if you offer after-hours emergency services, you could divert those calls to your cellphone while calls during business hours go to your shop phone. Other businesses may want to divert calls to a live answering service during peak hours to maintain focus on core business activities.
Analyze your call volume data to ensure you have enough staff on duty during peak hours to manage calls and minimize wait times. If you partner with a live answering service, you can rest assured that dedicated agents are always ready to take your calls. These services can minimize the risk of longer holds and higher abandonment rates from understaffing.
Rely on agents with excellent product knowledge and superb soft skills to reduce call volume and boost satisfaction. Well-trained agents can address the caller’s needs during a single conversation and help them feel valued.
Putting a customer on hold more than once during a single call can cause serious frustration and increase the risk of abandonment as total hold time accumulates. A well-trained live answering agent can ensure that the customer either has their needs met, gets rerouted directly to the right person, or receives a timely call back with the solution they need.
If a customer has to wait, an agent should always let them know how long they’re likely to be on hold and why. This helps callers mentally prepare for the wait and increases their confidence that someone will get back to them with a helpful response soon. You could also offer a call-back option, using a virtual queue system to keep the caller’s place until an agent is ready.
Reducing hold times is crucial for any business wanting to capture more leads and improve customer satisfaction. To catch every call and reduce hold times, partner with AnswerHero™ for live answering and call routing services.
Our 100% bilingual (English and Spanish) agents are available 24/7/365 to answer calls, book appointments, take messages, or route callers. We work with you to ensure our agents understand your business and develop custom scripts for all the common reasons people call. AnswerHero™ reduces your hold times and improves the customer experience. Every time a customer calls, they’ll either have their question answered by the live agent, get an appointment with your team, be transferred straight to the right person in your office, or leave a message for a timely call back.
Browse our plans today to find your ideal live answering solution to make the most of every call, every time.
Never miss an important call again with AnswerHero. Our team of professionals will answer calls 24/7/365 based on the information you provide about your business. We handle basic processes like taking messages and routing calls, but we can also make appointments and provide translation services. See the difference AnswerHero makes — choose your plan or contact us today.
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