In the majority of cases, a missed call within customer service means an unsatisfied customer somewhere. Indeed, if the customer is unable to reach customer service representatives, they may become even more frustrated with the situation, especially if they waited a long time before hanging up. It is possible to mitigate the issue of missed calls with some simple, clear tips.

Call Solution periodically publishes tips on customer relationship management. We invite you to check out other tips on our blog page.

Calculate the average waiting time from last week

The first step to reduce missed calls is to calculate the waiting time average from the previous week. Gather all the data available to you and perform simple calculations to determine the time a customer waits before being connected to a customer service representative. 

It is also advisable to calculate the time that customers held before hanging up when no one could answer. You will need this data later.

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Announce a precise waiting time before the hold music.

Now that you have estimated the waiting time, you need to announce it to your customers before the hold music. No need for formality; use a simple style like: “Thank you for holding... minutes, an agent will be with you shortly.” This way, you minimize customer frustration and encourage them to wait without hanging up.

Let's take a concrete example: a customer was waiting for customer service for 4 minutes and 50 seconds, and they were informed of a wait time of five minutes. Naturally, they are satisfied because they did not wait longer than expected. In contrast, before implementing this waiting time announcement, a customer had to wait the same amount of time, but they hung up after two minutes. 

The reason is simple: the lack of communication from the company led them to estimate their own waiting time. They had no idea whether they would be answered in five, ten, or fifteen minutes and preferred to hang up rather than wait.

Assess the missed calls if there are still any

With the implementation of a waiting time announcement, you will certainly reduce missed calls in your customer service. However, some customers may not tolerate waiting more than five minutes. If there are still several missed calls, you will need to reduce this waiting time by hiring external agents to quickly handle calls. This will improve customer satisfaction and ensure that clients feel attended to in a timely manner. la qualité globale de votre service client.