How long will you keep your customers waiting?

On average, Americans spend 45-62 minutes EVERY day waiting for something. To me, it seems like that’s a low number when you think about waiting on a line, waiting for an elevator, waiting for a repair person, waiting to download something on a computer and countless other waiting activities. Waiting takes a lot of one’s time. And let’s face it; no one likes to ‘wait.’ If you are measuring the customer experience through post-call surveys, you reveal how your customers feel about waiting. Some customer feedback can be highlighted as true knuggets to identify business process problems and some, well, are just knucklehead comments:

“I live in the (ABC) area of (XYZ). Close to downtown. It’s almost 4 o’clock in the morning. The electricity here has been out since 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I don’t understand why it’s taking you all so long. It’s too long. They must be working from covered wagons.”

“The representative was very knowledgeable. I was actually brushing my teeth when she picked up because I was on hold for so long; I had her on speaker phone. She was patient and waited for me to spit. She was helpful with her answers. Thank you.”

“Boy I think I waited so long for you people, I actually felt myself age.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if my pregnant neighbor left for the hospital and delivered her baby from the time I called until now.”

Happy Monday!