On hold

The way you tell (or ask) someone to wait lays a foundation for their experience of waiting.

I called two competing companies recently. Each greeting was followed by on-hold music. Here’s what I heard:

Call One: “[Company Name] Hold.”

Call Two: “Hello! Thank you for calling [Company Name]. This is Barbara. Can you please hold for a moment?”

Afterwards, I used a stopwatch. The first way to answer takes two seconds. The second way takes four seconds ... five if you count my reply.

Is the first company so busy that they can’t afford those extra three seconds to answer the phone in a courteous way? Of course, during my hold, I had plenty of time to ponder the way the phone was answered.

The three seconds saved might have bought the employee some time, but it came at the cost of my positive feelings toward the brand, and ultimately my patronage.

And the second company? I was happy to hold for Barbara ... and she was just as friendly when she picked up again.