One question we deal with in our free On-Hold message consultations is whether acompany can benefit from a custom On-Hold message or not.
So how will you, the busy business owner, know when an investment to reach your callers while On-Hold will return good results?
How many calls do you receive?
Over the course of a day, a week, or even a month…how many calls does your business receive? Have you ever thought about counting them? Have you ever tried?
You could get your receptionist or employees to just make a quick tally whenever they answer the calls. It might not be the most technologically advanced method, but it will give you a better understanding of how many calls you do receive!
Or, we can help you with counting calls, as part of our Caller Experience Evaluation service.
How long are callers On-Hold?
We talk with some companies who tell us “We don’t put people On-Hold”, but willing it not to happen doesn’t mean it never does.
Being On-Hold is a fact of life for most businesses. But On-Hold time really falls into two categories:
1. Long hold times…like call centers, tech support, and customer service. These are hold times counted in tens of minutes. (I know…I was On-Hold with American Express for 42 minutes today!)
2. Short hold times…these are hold times that we often don’t think about. Being transferred to another person, or sent to voicemail. Or waiting while someone looks up our order. These are usually measured in seconds. You may be On-Hold for 10 seconds while going to voicemail, 30 seconds while being transferred to the person with whom you would like to speak, or for a minute or two while someone looks up your order, or checks the stock of an item.
These two very different categories require different approches. But for category #2, which most small businesses fall into, optimizing that On-hold time can bring very much value to the caller.
So how do you measure it?
Spend two days asking your staff to roughly track how many calls go On-Hold or are transferred. Again, a simple tally will work. Monitoring a few of those calls will give you a great idea of how long the average hold time is at your company.
Again, this is something we can you with if you like, with our Caller Experience Evaluation.
Then with that information, we can begin to measure the value that a custom On-Hold message can bring to your company.
And if your business really is one of those that doesn’t put people On-Hold? We’ll tell you that as well.
Quantifying the Caller Experience will bring a clearer picture on areas your Caller Experience can improve to maximize customer service.
Remember, you can’t improve what you don’t measure!