Movember Challenge: Waiting On Hold So Long You Could Grow Your Mo?

We hear about it every single day; customers stuck on hold for what seems like an eternity.

It’s a cruel reality, but at Fonolo we make it our mission to take customers off hold and bring them back into the real world. We’re fighting the good fight, for you – the customers – and you – the call center agents – and for customer service as a whole.

The journey to resolving a simple customer service issue should be just that, simple. Plus, there are better things you could be doing with your time than sitting around waiting on hold.

Well, this November we’re MOtivated to take a stand. We’re challenging companies to give back for all the hold time customers have endured this year. Let’s break it down…

If you take a look at our Top 10 ONHOLDWITH offenders and calculate their total monthly wait times, you’ll see that these companies are wasting approximately 3,750,000 minutes on hold with customers per month.

There are 43,800 minutes in a month, which means at least 85 people are collectively on hold for the span of an entire month, or in Movember terms, long enough to grow their very own bushy ‘stache! It’s pretty crazy to think that call centers are putting customers on hold for long enough to watch their hair grow – and that’s only 10 call centers.

Can you imagine if we tried calculating how much hold time is being wasted by hundreds of thousands of companies every single month? That’s a lot of mustaches!

In light of this, we’re challenging companies to apologize for their hold times by donating $1 to the Movember Foundation for every minute a customer has to wait on hold. Yeah, that sounds like a big chunk of change, but time is money, and right now it’s the customer who ends up paying. It’s your chance to acknowledge that their time is not lost on you, and for a good cause.

I suspect many companies reading this are thinking, “Whoa, whoa, back it up just a second Fonolo. You’re being a tad unreasonable.” But when you’re on the other side, (Adele knows what I’m talking about), you understand just how much call center hold times can negatively affect your business. If you’re not sure, take a look at “10 Quick Tips & Stats About the Customer Experience” and it’ll become quite clear.

So, don’t you think it’s time to stop the “#onholdwith” madness and give your customers an experience they can remember? Instead of feeling guilty, stressed, and frustrated by customer complaints, do your business a favor and give your contact center a call-back solution.

Don’t forget to take on our Movember Challenge for a chance to put a smile (with or without a mustache) on your agents’ and customers’ faces!