Average Hold Time
(AHT) refers to length of time that a caller waits in queue for the
professionals of the business
process outsourcing companies to answer call, or the time a customer waits
in the queue before his/her call gets answered by a live agent. Hold time is
the friction point between the customer and the call center agent. Lack of
contingencies for disseminating calls and incompetent staff to handle customer
queries are some of the biggest problems that leads to high ‘hold time’ in
outbound call center. Average hold time is the length of time customers are
placed on hold when contacting your company. Long hold times can lead to
customer frustration, while short hold times can allow you to quickly assist
your caller. AHT is one of the problematic issues with quality of customer
service in business landscape.
Primarily, a customer calls support
when they have a serious issue, such as a billing concern or problem regarding
the malfunctioning of products/services. With either of these, the customer is
already frustrated and long hold time makes the situation even worse.
Exceptionally long hold times make customers more and more stressed out and
thus, they feel devalued and deflated. Therefore, to decease average hold time,
management of top call
center outsourcing companies incorporate multiple methods and strategies
that can help build up the reputation of the company while enhancing customer
satisfaction.
Average
hold time is calculated by adding hold time of all inbound customer calls,
dividing it with the number of inbound customer calls answered by the
representative or the interactive voice response (IVR) system. Exceptional
customer experience leads to more satisfied customers. The support service
providers increase number of call handling staff to meet the needs and demands
of customer; offer best interactive voice response (IVR) to provide some
services robotically; reduce hold time with the help of improved call handling
procedures, training and system development.
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