How Long Will Customers Wait Before They Give Up?

And the bigger issue is that customers don’t just get frustrated when you make them wait. They may leave. The question is “How long is too long?” The answer depends on the channel, but one thing is consistent. Customers expect companies to respect their time.

Key Findings

Five Things You Need to Know About Customer Wait Times

1. 1

   Phone Hold Times Are Getting Shorter

   More than half of consumers, 54% say an acceptable phone hold time is less than five minutes. That doesn’t mean everyone will hang up at exactly five minutes. It means companies shouldn’t assume customers are willing to wait indefinitely. The longer customers sit on hold, the greater the risk of frustration and abandonment.

2. 2

   Customers Expect Chat to Feel Like Chat

   When customers use live chat, they expect a fast response. In fact, 45% expect their initial inquiry to be addressed within 60 seconds. That makes sense. Chat is designed to be immediate. If customers are staring at a message that says “Please wait,” they may wonder why they didn’t just pick up the phone.

3. 3

   Email Expectations Are Faster Than Many Companies Realize

   Many companies still work with 24- or 48-hour email response standards. Customers have a different expectation. 49% expect a response to an email in less than four hours. That gap matters. A company may believe it is meeting its SLA while the customer is thinking, “Why haven’t they responded yet?”

4. 4

   Texting Creates a Different Expectation

   Text messaging has changed the way customers think about communication. When a customer sends a text to a business, they don’t necessarily think of it as joining a service queue. They think of it as starting a conversation. That means response time matters. The faster and more transparent the communication, the better.

5. 5

   Slow Service Can Lead to Lost Business

   Wait times aren’t just a customer service issue. They can become a loyalty issue. When customers feel that a company doesn’t respect their time, they’re more likely to look for another option. And your competitor is just a click away.

By The Numbers

The Critical Numbers at a Glance

Actionable Insights

What This Means for Your Business

Respect Your Customers’ Time

Customers are busy. They don’t want to spend their valuable time waiting for a company to respond.

Give Customers Options

If you can’t provide an immediate answer, give customers another way to move forward. Offer self-service. Provide clear information. Let customers request a callback. Use automation to handle simple questions. The goal isn’t to eliminate the wait completely. It’s to make the wait feel less frustrating.

Make Callbacks Part of the Experience

Nobody wants to sit on hold listening to the same music over and over. A callback option lets customers get on with their day while keeping their place in line. That’s not just a technology feature. It’s a way of saying, “We respect your time.”

“Customers don’t mind waiting as much when they know what to expect and have control over the experience.” Shep Hyken