“Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line for the next available agent.” Cue hold muzak.
I don’t know many people who look forward to being put on hold when trying to access a business’ service by phone or by chat. I sure don’t.
I also don’t know many people who believe the automated hold message declaring that, “Your call is important to us” or, “Your query is important to us.” Why would they when the business’ actions show otherwise in this moment when the customer is actively reaching out for support?
If a customer’s call or query really mattered to a business, that business would care enough to look beyond objective metrics like hold times and value the customer’s subjective experience. The business would see the mundane moments in their customer’s journey as important opportunities to strengthen their relationship with their customer and earn more trust.
Imagine contacting a business by phone or chat for support and, instead of your hold experience being frustrating or even infuriating, it was delightful—even if you had to wait for a little bit.
What would that experience look like? How might that influence your attitude and sense of connection to that business?
If your customer is important to your business, then create experiences for them that clearly demonstrate that.
In looking for ways to improve your customer’s experience and increase customer satisfaction and trust, don’t overlook their subjective experience in the mundane moments like being placed on hold.
In many industries, the bar is set so low that you can make a big difference for your customer with small improvements that are relatively easy to implement. And by doing so, you’ll also improve the experience for the members of your team who interface directly with customers.
