CALL CENTER AD TECH

Make Consumers Enjoy Hold Time

By Mandi Nowitz
Web Editor

I have such a difficult time calling contact centers for problem resolution, only to discover there are extremely high call volumes and I will inevitably be on hold for longer than usual. That is fine but what comes with these hold times can be regurgitated messages from the company I have called. Poorly chosen music better suited for an elevator; commercials for a product or credit card I already have; or a reminder that my call will be answered...eventually. This is why callers only last an average of two minutes on hold.

Making every caller feel like they are special can make a longer than normal wait time manageable. How is this possible? By personalizing each and every caller’s experience, an organization sets its contact center apart.

We have mentioned the power of bots and they only work if used properly. For instance, when they are used to pacify customers by regurgitating ads and branding content, they are likely to fail a company. It is shown that 70 percent of Americans find this approach bland and irritating while 68 percent of a customer base can be lost because of these, well, robots.

Nelson Boswell, author of Successful Living Day by Day, shared, “Here is a simple but powerful rule: always give people more than what they expect to get.” And that is where a CallSpace bot comes in handy.

CallSpace bots tailor each individual hold time to hold consumer attention keeping callers engaged and avoiding the ever-present “hang up syndrome.” This is all made possible by analyzing consumer data via consumer history and third-party gathered data.

An advantage to personalized hold times is the advertisements played often spark interest in a product for the caller thus boosting revenue for the company deploying the contact center. Callers feel special, revenues are boosted; this is a match made in contact center hold time heaven.

Does your contact center have a happy hold time?