What is an acceptable wait time?

The most important role in the call center business is that of the customers. Customers are the lifeblood of the call center industry. Without customers, more specifically satisfied customers, call centers will stop working. Take for example a center that provides ultra cheap service with horrible customer support, customer service is always up to date and those companies will eventually close their doors if they don’t put customers first. To ensure customer retention, a customer’s needs come first and foremost. It is true what they say that the “Customer is king”. The bottom line is that responder services must do whatever it takes to keep the customer satisfied. One thing that clients do not tolerate well is suspension. While it is sometimes unavoidable (like waiting to speak to someone who may be on the other line), it is not welcome. Is there an acceptable waiting time? Are there ways to reduce wait times or distract callers so they don’t mind being on hold? We will discuss these points throughout this article and hopefully produce some good strategies.

To define service levels, goals, etc., call center management must understand what an acceptable wait time is. Wait time refers to the amount of time a caller is waiting to speak to a live operator. Clients come with different problems, so you cannot define a fixed time within which the client’s query must be resolved. The time required to resolve any particular problem would largely depend on the nature and difficulty of the customer’s problem. Different customer needs and expectations add to the difficulty levels to solve the problem in minimal time.

Being on hold is annoying. In today’s fast-paced world, instant gratification is king and waiting is unacceptable. Here’s something cool to do; The next time you’re waiting on hold, set a timer to see how long you’re actually on hold. Even if it’s only on hold for a minute, it seems like forever. This is why call centers are always trying to reduce the amount of time a person spends in the queue.

While the need to put callers on hold is often unavoidable, here are several factors that can help reduce wait times or make callers less concerned with being on hold:

1. Save Every Call – By answering every call as quickly, accurately, and efficiently as possible, you save valuable time. This does not mean training your CSRs to rush the caller with the phone. Furthermore, train your agents on customer call scripts and keep them updated on any changes to your software to increase your competition. Making an operator stagger for even a few seconds can have a ripple effect.

2. Use non-CSR staff – Call centers will usually have peak hours with “expected” traffic spikes. If you graph excessive wait times, you will see that these cases usually occur at approximately the same time. By having your administration, billing and accounting staff available to answer phone calls, you can handle more calls and these wait times can be reduced.

3. Off-site operators: Call centers with multiple locations can send overflow calls back and forth freely between individual offices. This is an excellent feature to help optimize efficiency and provide quality 24/7 messaging.

4. Be Creative – There are times when a caller must be put on hold. The way an operator performs this task can make or break the call. Callers do not like to be put on hold so that you can attend to another matter. However, putting a caller on hold to perform a task on your behalf can be a good thing. If the call center operator can make the caller believe that they are putting you on hold to verify information or to try to help you, they tend to be more grateful than angry.

5. Check back with the caller: We know being on hold sucks, but if the operator checks back with you to update your progress, it doesn’t seem like that long. Set your software to initiate a reminder beep on the operator’s headsets so they can check back with the customer and simply inform them of the status of their resolution.

6. Put some music in your ears: While it is not a good practice to cut down on wait times, this is an effective technique to distract the caller and let them know that you are still connected. Imagine being on hold for 2 minutes with no background music. Personally, I think the call got disconnected and hung up.

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to completely kill the timeout monster, using a combination of the above strategies is a great way to tame the beast. Call centers that approach this as problematic are usually the most successful. By understanding what issues are important to your customers, a contact center can ensure a long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationship.