I’ve had multiple businesses in my day but learned something very valuable this morning. I thought I would pass it along for those of you that either have or are contemplating owning a business where customers would be calling in. Learn and Enjoy!

USA Business Telephone Today conducted a survey to determine the effects of putting people on hold. The callers surveyed were routine callers seeking information from the USA Business Telephone Today Center in Washington, D.C.

A total of 30,000 callers were placed on hold for one minute under various conditions. After that, each call was answered with the same question: “Thank you for waiting. Would you mind telling me how long you had to wait on-hold?”

Calls on hold with silence (10,000 callers) 52 percent of callers terminated the call. 27 percent estimated their wait at more than 5 minutes. 18 percent estimated it to be more than 3 minutes.

Calls on hold with music (10,000 callers) 13 percent of callers terminated the call. 3 percent estimated their hold time to be more than 1 minute. 56 percent of callers estimated their hold time to be less than 1 minute.

Calls on hold with information (10,000 callers) 2 percent of callers terminated the call. 1 percent of callers estimated their hold time to be more than 1 minute.

81 percent of callers estimated their hold time to be less than 1 minute.