By Johnny Gailer
What's the true cost of waiting?
I've often wondered what would happen if doctors were forced to pay customers for their time. I cannot count how many times I've shown up to an appointment on time or even a few minutes early only to be asked to take a seat in the waiting room and told they’ll call my name when the doctor is able to see me.
Last time, I waited at a doctor's office for two hours beyond my scheduled appointment time and I daydreamed a bit about sending a bill for the time I spent waiting with hopes it might offset the huge bill I was surely going to receive after having my time wasted.
Imagine, if you were able to bill your doctor for all the time you spent waiting. How much money would you receive?
But after this thought I started thinking about how often people end up waiting when doing business with almost everyone.
“More than 70% of business calls are placed on hold. ”
And you do pay for it. That same study shows that 60% of the callers placed on hold hang up. And 30% of those that hang up never call back.
So as a business owner or marketer, you do pay for making your callers wait. Either by losing business, customers who decide to buy somewhere else, or by investing in something that will reduce the pain of making callers wait like an extra employee to answer the phones.
Or, you could invest in something much less expensive like On Hold Marketing Messages.
A Study done by North American Telecom reports that
- Callers with silence on hold will abandon their calls in less than one minute.
- 90% hang up within forty seconds.
- Callers with silence on hold will stay on the line thirty seconds longer than with silence.
- Callers with information on hold will stay on the line for up to 3 minutes longer.
Now I'm not suggesting using on hold messages as a crutch for bad service, but rather as an insurance policy for the occasion someone does have to wait. Except, unlike insurance, you'll probably cash in on it often, maybe even every day or every hour, and it's super inexpensive. Plus customers love it.
“Over 85% of callers prefer on hold messages over silence.”
Also, On Hold Messages, when used correctly, allow you to use the time your customers wait as a revenue stream.
When you have a caller that waits on hold, you have a captive audience. So you can make sure to remind them about all the ways you can help him. Because callers at this stage in the customer journey are very susceptible to subtle sales messages
“Providing Information on hold results in a 40% increase in retention of callers on hold . . . a 15% increase in inquiries . . . a 12% direct increase in requests for products and services mentioned on hold.”
Either way, you're going to pay for the time you make your customers wait on hold. The question is, Which is less expensive: a few lost customers, a new employee, missed sales opportunities, or On Hold Marketing?
The answer, of course, is On Hold Marketing. It costs less than a cup of coffee a day.
“1 in 5 respondents made a purchase or a decision based on information they heard. ”
Not only is on hold marketing cheaper than the alternative, you get the added benefit of actually adding value to the time your callers wait by letting them know of other ways you need help, which could mean additional sales for you.