When you pick up the phone, customers might already be unhappy because …

… they felt like they couldn’t get through to you, had to wait too long and go through way too many prompts.

That’s what has customers most upset about calling for help, according to a brand new poll from Consumer Reports. On a scale of one to 10, their top frustrations with contact centers were:

• Can’t get through to a person (8.9)
• Too many phone steps needed (8.5)
• Too long of a wait (8.2)

Bottom line: Customers get extremely annoyed – and upset – when they can’t talk to an agent right away. Most understand they’ll likely have to wait for a short time. But if it’s longer than a minute, contact centers might want to:

• Offer an option for a callback when agents aren’t as busy
• Have agents regularly update customers on hold as they work to solve issues, and
• Keep the busiest times posted (online, in company literature or recorded on the phone line when customers are in queue) so customers with non-urgent issues can opt to call back when it’s not so busy.

Tags: Consumer Reports, upset customers