One of the costliest things a business can experience is not expenditures, but rather lost revenue due to long customer hold times. As many as one third of customers simply hang up if they have to wait too long. Short of hiring more employees to handle calls, what can you do to reduce hold times? With the right Business Phone System features, you can increase efficiency and make sure that your customers connect with your staff much quicker. Here’s how to reduce hold times.
Monitor Agent Performance
In order to reduce hold times, you need to learn how your agents are performing. To do this, you need to take advantage of real-time analytics. You should monitor first contact resolution rates, first response times, call abandonment rates, and average call length. This data will tell you how your agents are performing and therefore give you a greater understanding of how long it takes callers to reach an employee.
Offer Customer Callbacks
If you have long hold times, one solution is to offer customer call backs. When a customer calls in, they can choose whether to wait or to receive a callback at a pre-scheduled time.
Use Self-Service With IVR
It’s always good to give your customers control. With an IVR (Interactive Voice Response), they can often solve issues without having to speak to a live person. For example, if they simply want to pay their bill, they can do it with the IVR. This frees up your agents to handle problems that necessitate a live conversation.
Use Call Routing
The last thing you want is for your customers to spend a long time on hold only to be connected to someone who can’t help them. If you use call routing, you can make sure that they reach the right person the first time. Call routing uses predetermined paths based on customer provided information to route them to the appropriate person or department.
If you have any questions regarding Business Phone Systems, please contact Advanced Communication Systems today at 800-750-3624. Please feel free to also follow us on Twitter.
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