Web development company Colorlib recently did the research, and the most frustrating part of being on the phone with customer service is being put on hold. Such a common plight is unavoidable for most businesses but can still be hugely frustrating due to the wasted time it leads to when you have others waiting on you.
So, can you get frustrated being on hold, or do you need to remain professional? Regardless of your answer, what can a business do, and how can we understand and manage this issue in the future?
Below, we have compiled information on the emotional impact of long hold times to show that we empathize with how much they can affect you. So, discover how Centris ensures such things occur as little as possible, allowing you to maintain your trust in their partner brands.
How Can You Get Frustrated Being On Hold?
Extended hold times can have a substantial effect on a person’s emotions. As it seems to remove the caller’s agency from them without offering a sense of transparency, it can feel like the person has lost control, which makes them want to exert themselves on the situation.
In addition, it can frustrate people due to:
- The emotional impact of hold music on a short loop
- A difficulty with engaging in other activities
- Not knowing when or if the other party will return
- Being responsible for things that hinge on the phone call
- Poor sound quality with the hold audio
- The impersonality of automated voices
- Concerns about being disconnected
- Start differences between music and voice volume
- Feeling ignored or unimportant
Companies that fail to address this issue risk their customers making judgments about the business’s ability to perform the role they pay them for. Over time, this can lead to a significant loss of business as customers and clients look for the same service where they will get the support they need.
This problem can also be a problem for fleet managers as your fleet relies on up-to-the-minute updates. Depending on your need for help, being on hold for an extended period can cause significant stress in customer service and issues for your employees. Having a reliable partner, on the other hand, means that you can trust them not to waste your time.
We understand that people quickly learn whether they are dealing with a high-quality customer service system. We want to keep customers as happy as possible, so our team works hard to ensure you get what you need whenever you contact us.
Negative Impact on Brand Loyalty
Over time, bad customer service experiences, including being put on hold, can make people hesitant to get in touch with a company’s contact center. Due to the need to set aside significant time to contact the service, they will grow increasingly resentful of interacting with them and, eventually, switch to a competitor.
At the same time, a lack of sympathy or empathy regarding a client’s situation when they come out of hold can sour their opinion of the brand. Treating a customer as a fellow human makes them feel much more appreciated. This level of care is another reason we take extra effort to give customers the respect they deserve.
Risks of Over-Reliance on Automation in Customer Service
Alongside being put on hold, automated systems can start to eat away at a customer’s belief you want to treat them like another person. Most people hold up the importance of human interaction every time they contact you, if only because this means they know that nuance can come across when necessary.
Automated systems have a much lower capacity to handle complicated or personalized queries that require a greater level of understanding and decision-making. As such, where the customer or client might feel like a human was “just reading through a script,” a robotic responder would cause this feeling to be even stronger.
At the same time, errors in automated systems, such as incorrect information or the inability to understand speech due to a mild accent, can lead to extreme dissatisfaction. When clients have no choice of interacting with a company aside from going through such a method of communication, that feeling grows.
Such an absence of personability and humanity can lead to people believing the company sees them as “a number” rather than an individual. If other service options exist, they will take their business elsewhere.
Failure to Gain Accurate Feedback
Relying on an automated system can prevent a company from gathering accurate feedback. They may not be able to ask the right questions to get to the root of any problems they face, and customers will be unable to explain to an individual with empathy what their issues are.
Without this crucial, nuanced feedback, a company cannot start accurately improving the customer experience. Over time, they will become increasingly out of touch with their clients and likely lose them en masse.
How Centris Restores Compassion With Human-Centered Support
Centris a leader in the world of customer service, works hard to bring their expertise and experience to the fore. Our outsourced call center emphasizes the significance of connecting directly to other humans. Through this, we aim to reduce hold times and address customer queries in authentic ways that center empathy.
We also have experience with a technology suite that allows us to empower (rather than replace) human agents. When our partners contact us, we can work with them as efficient and understanding individuals that customers and clients can trust.
Discover the Human Edge With Centris
We have asked the vital question: “Can you get frustrated being on hold with us?”
To avoid the answer being “Yes,” we have decided that genuine human interaction is a major way to prove to customers that we have their best interests at heart.
We offer tangible customer service strategies that ensure that such interactions are fruitful. If you want to know more about how Centris offers high-quality call center solutions, contact us today. Learn what we can provide you with the next time you need to call someone to resolve a fleet issue.
