If you own a small business, every single person who calls your phone number is a potential client, and could be the difference between success and failure as a business. It is therefore extremely important to make sure that you do everything that you can to reduce caller hang-ups.
As long as a caller is engaged, has their needs and questions seen to in a timely manner, and is treated respectfully, they shouldn’t hang up on you. However, they sometimes still do. Changing little things about the way you take phone calls can help you reduce caller hang-ups. Here are three of our favourite things to do:
- Reduce on-hold time as much as possible:
Being put on hold is a huge red light for callers. Many people call businesses in their breaks or after work, and they definitely don’t have time to sit on hold for hours at a time. If you get into the habit of putting people on hold, expect them to hang up.
Sure, you will have to put some people on hold while you wait for phone lines to free up or while you get in touch with someone else. However, it is important to make sure that they know that they are going to be on hold, that they know how long they will be on hold for, and that you talk to them if they are going to have to wait longer than expected.
One of the best ways to reduce on-hold times is to employ one or more dedicated phone staff as they are needed.
- If you do have to put people on hold, make it interesting:
Although you want to avoid putting people on hold as much as possible, it will happen from time to time. When you do have to ask someone to wait, you need to make their waiting time interesting and engaging. If you make them wait while listening to nothing, they will be more likely to hang-up without waiting for you to come back.
Think about adding some music or an informational post to your on-hold message. Talk about your business and who you are, and tell them some things that you think that they might find interesting. If you can engage your callers while they are on hold, they will be much less likely to hang up. Talk to the team at OHVO about putting together a perfect on-hold message for your business!
- Talk to callers in a friendly, engaging manner:
One of the most common reasons why callers hang up is because the person answering the phone is either rude or doesn’t know what they are talking about. If your business relies on customers who contact you via phone, make sure that you have someone trained in both customer service and the ins and outs of your business answering incoming calls.
Final Word:
Reducing caller hang-ups is a simple as engaging them and giving them what they want. The two main reasons for caller hang-ups are either stupidly long on-hold times or staff with poor or incorrect knowledge. Eliminate these and you should find that more of your callers stay on the line and end up doing business with you!