It’s a fact of life that nobody likes waiting. Whether it’s in a line or on the phone, it’s hard for people to shake the feeling that their time could be better spent doing just about anything else.

This is especially important for customers. Many business owners live by the phrase “time is money” but the same is actually true of customers. As in, if you’re using up too much of their time, you’re reducing the chances to see any of their money. This is why it’s so important to reduce customer queue times.

The problem with long queues

As mentioned, one of the top issues with extended queue times is the fact that it turns customers away. Put yourself into the shoes of your ideal customer; say you’re trying to choose between Business A and Business B.

Business A provides excellent products and is well-liked by most everyone, but has a pretty significant issue when it comes to customer service. Their hold times are atrocious and any time you call, you can never seem to get a hold of a representative. On top of this, when you leave messages, you tend not to hear back. 

On the other hand, Business B offers a similar product of a slightly lesser quality, but they’ve partnered with a call center software provider (like Bright Pattern, for example) which means that every single time you’ve reached out to their customer service department, you’ve been assisted in a timely fashion. On top of that, they offer callback options, so you don’t have to spend hours of your day glued to your phone waiting on hold. 

Which business are you more likely to rely on moving forward? If you’re like most individuals, you’d pick Business B in a snap. They truly seem invested in their customers and have put in the groundwork to build up their customer service department. It feels like they care.

While this is a more extreme example, customers run up against these issues far more often than you’d think. If you’re not ensuring a pleasant, streamlined customer service experience, your buyers are sure to find someone who is. That’s part of why call center software can be such a boon.

Benefits of call center software

In addition to the aforementioned consumer benefits, there are additional internal benefits to reducing customer queues and relying on call center software. Firstly, there are reputation boosts. In the digital age, many businesses live and die by their perceived reputation. By doing right by the customer and amping up your customer service, you’re much more likely to garner favorable reviews. 

Second, you’re enhancing your employees’ experiences too. Customer service in particular sees fairly high levels of turnover, which can make it difficult to not only hire quality workers but also keep them with your company. Call center software allows employees to work remotely, which has some fairly significant morale boosts. Happy employees, happy boss, right? 

Also, it reduces your spending in some not-so-subtle ways. You don’t have to lease out a large amount of space to account for your customer service department. You don’t have to pay for hardware upgrades. You also don’t have to maintain a server for call logs and recordings, since most call center software is cloud-based and allows for digital storage. 

There are few, if any, industries that wouldn’t benefit from reducing customer queue times and investing in call center software. It ticks quite a few boxes when it comes to streamlining your operations and does a great deal towards keeping your customers happy. In short, it’s a business win-win.