Keeping Customers Happy While Waiting

Waiting is an intrinsic part of participating in customer service, particularly on the customers’ side of the relationship but there are ways to limit the irritation that is felt when the customer is left waiting. This article looks at a few things the company can do in order to keep the customer in the best frame of mind while they are waiting for to speak with a member of the customer services team.

It is a common fact of customer service call centres that the customer is left waiting listening to music – not always music that is to everyone’s taste, but music nonetheless – and this is one of the tools used in the industry for keeping customers calm. As an example, calling a car insurance company will give you several options one of which is to speak with the claims department. When you are reporting an incident with your car the chances are you are already a little stressed so waiting on hold listening to music is the last thing you want to do, but you will probably have to.

If the company plays calming music the customer has no option but to listen because they are waiting to be connected and therefore the music will calm their mood – even if they are resistant to the idea!

This is a solution for companies who deal over the phone, for those who have customers waiting in a store they need to be a little more innovative with their waiting tactics. Queuing is a tedious but necessary part of visiting a store, any store, but when customers visit a store in order to receive assistance with something they have purchased, received or are interested in, they do not expect to be left waiting. If they are waiting, it would be beneficial to the company to offer the customer something as a distraction.

It could be anything – perhaps a series of adverts that are in the waiting area ask questions or provoke thought. It is a natural for people to read, perhaps not extensively but writing has the power to infiltrate the customers’ brain without being obvious and even if the only thing the writing achieves is to distract the customer; that is mission accomplished. Thinking takes up a surprising amount of time and will buy the company that time with minimal expenditure.

Other tips for keeping customers distracted from waiting includes providing generic reading material such as magazines or leaflets that refer to the company and their products and services.

You can find more customer services tips by speaking with one of the major companies. Use either the Wonga contact number or the Vodafone contact number to be connected with one of these companies, both are extremely experienced in this area and willing to assist.