Queue Time is the time that your telephone callers spend waiting for “the next available representative” to help them when they call many businesses. Phone calls are answered efficiently with an “auto attendant” greeting, and then “queued up” (the British term for getting in line) to be “answered in the order in which they were received.” These automated systems are as efficient as you let them be, and don’t “play favorites.” No one gets to “cut” to the front of the line.
The problem is that sometimes the wait is long…and it can be. But sometimes it can just seem long…longer than it really is.
Queue time and perception: we’re all impatient. But there are real reasons for it.
Psychology Today writes that “Impatience is triggered when we have a goal, and realize it’s going to cost us more than we thought to reach it.” Your callers have a goal: to do something…get information…find something out…talk with someone.
When callers are impatient from your Queue Time, you can lose
The research also says that “Impatience motivates us to switch goals” or give up on what we wanted to do, and do something else instead. That can mean hanging up, and calling their “second choice.”
Many phone systems can give you statistics on call volume, mean/median/mode of time to answer, and “call abandonment” or how many calls you lose (and after how long waiting) This information can be very important to improving your results.
When Queue Time Triggers Impatience
When your caller gets bored, or frustrated, impatience starts to settle in. Think about your own experience calling your bank, an airline, or the cable company. You hear the recorded greeting. The dreaded “Please hold for our next available agent.” You know what’s coming.
The music starts. Then the classic messages. We’ve all heard them…
…your call is important to us
…we’re experiencing longer than normal hold times
…we apologize for the delay
…please hold, our next available representative will be with you momentarily and on and on. Often the same message is repeated…every 30 seconds. It’s mind-numbing. You begin to get impatient.
And then you hang up. (often, not gently). It wasn’t that important. You’ll fix it yourself. You’ll shop someplace else. You’ll switch to Satellite TV.
What can make Queue Time better?
There’s an amazing amount of information that you could give your callers:
- What if you were given the answers to FAQ?
- What if you heard interesting information?
- How about suggestions for fixing a tech support problem?
- What about new ways to use the product you’re trying to buy, or have questions about?
- What about pointing out important or interesting information that’s on your website that could help your customers.
- How about reinforcing the benefits you offer?
- Maybe you could throw in a little trivia, about your products, or about something fun.
- How about deals and savings ideas?
- How about new ways that you can help your callers
There as many interesting ideas to tell your callers about as there are callers. One business had messages so interesting that callers actually asked to be place back on hold!
You can reduce Queue Time Frustration
We all know that handling phone calls can be costly: you have to hire good employees and train them to help your customers. The more frustrating the queue time, the more annoyed callers will be. And they’ll take it out on your reps…leading to lower performance and higher turnover. So making the time your callers spend waiting less annoying helps when reps interact with them. (Again, think about your own experience!)
Want to make Queue Time more interesting and more productive? Give your callers information that they want, and that you want them to have. With Informer Messages on hold. They’re custom developed for your company, your callers, and your phone queues. They’re guaranteed to decrease “lost calls” and caller frustration. Every phone call can be more productive, and a lot more pleasant.
Help your callers. Take the first step: call and we’ll conduct a free study of your calls.
Call today: (800) 862-8896. All you have to lose is your hangups!
