How can you enhance the call queuing process for customers?
“You are 3rd in line to speak to a representative.” Have you ever heard that message and hung up? Probably not. But if you didn’t hear it and you are on hold, listening to the same music and not knowing that your call is even acknowledged are you likely to hang up? Probably yes.
This is a simple example of the positivity of using call queuing messages.
If your customers know that their call is important, they will queue for you.
If your customers have an idea of how long it will take to speak to someone, they will queue for you.
Call queuing has come a long way in recent times
During the lockdowns, several businesses have struggled with their operations. Staff have moved from an office environment to home working. Urgency has reduced in the work environment with some people relaxing at home not having a supervisor looking over their shoulder. Other companies had to reduce staff or remove their overseas call centre support, meaning that more calls are coming in to fewer people.
In these examples, having good, clear, and informative messaging will mean that customers are still serviced, your company does not drop calls and you do not lose business.
Average Call Handling Times
If you know the average time it takes a representative to handle a call, then you know how long customers will be on hold until their call is answered. This is very helpful for customers. They can call your number, be told that average wait times are 10 minutes. They will go and make a coffee, catch up with the news online, and be prepared to speak to you in 10 minutes time. With continual reminders saying how many minutes until the call is answered, or what position someone is in the queue, customers are reassured that they are respected and will wait patiently for their call to be answered.
These call queues can be programmed and organized in real-time, so customers calling in are always aware of the time that it will take to have their concerns resolved.
Customers Queue for you
You might worry that queuing customers will complain, shout, or become irate the longer they are on hold. This is not often the case where there are clear queuing messages. If someone knows how long the queue is, they will wait to be seen, heard, or spoken with. If they do not know how long it will take, that can cause frustration. Customers are often very understanding of delays to speak to representatives if they are informed of reasons why, and the time it will take.
Other benefits of Queuing for you
Using the queuing messages to your advantage can even boost your business. Whilst your company has a captive audience, you can program your messages to inform customers about offers or promotions currently available. Some companies even play games with their customers to keep them entertained with multiple choice questions that the customers must answer, and then when they speak to a representative, they get to discuss the answers and find out how well they did. The representatives have a fun ice breaker to discuss at the start of the call which can make the call go even better.
You can switch the queue process around, so the customer can hang up, but keep their position in the queue and receive a call back when their turn comes up.
Queuing can be used to the customer’s advantage, to the company’s advantage, and can be a way of handling more calls, dropping fewer calls, and maintaining good customer relations.
Speak to us about how we can help you to enhance your queue processes.
