Took me 5 years to realize I was putting customers on hold all wrong

I used to just hit the hold button and come back whenever, but last week a lady in Austin called me out saying 'you forgot about me for 8 minutes didn't you'. Now I set a timer on my phone for 2 minutes max. Anyone else have a moment where a customer made you see your own dumb habits?

2 comments

2 Comments

derekward2d ago

Had a buddy who worked at a car rental place. He'd put people on hold and just go grab coffee or smoke. One day this guy calls back after 15 minutes and my buddy picks up thinking it's a new call. The customer says 'you left me hanging for a quarter hour to fill out a form I finished in two minutes buddy.' My friend said he felt like a total idiot. He started putting a sticky note on his monitor with the time he put someone on hold after that.

patriciap522d ago

My own version of that sticky note trick is a kitchen timer I keep by my desk (the old wind-up kind, not digital). Twisted it once for a "quick hold" and it dinged a full 12 minutes later, I had completely forgotten the person existed. I felt like such a dope I actually apologized out loud to the empty phone before I called them back.