To Put On Hold, Or Not To Put On Hold - That Is The Question

In almost every sales training class I have ever attended or presented, participants ask a question regarding the appropriateness of putting customers on hold.  Many are concerned about missing potential sales calls, others not wanting to do it because they feel it is rude and others feeling forced to do it due to being under staffed.  No matter what the motivation, because the topic comes up so often, it is evident our employees are pondering the question and are in search of the answer.

Putting customers on hold is definitely tricky.  We live in a very fast paced immediate gratification society.  We want everything NOW, with no waiting.  We no longer go into the bank and have a conversation with a bank teller, instead we execute immediate withdraws and deposits through an ATM machine.  We no longer wait in a long grocery store line to purchase our groceries, instead we execute our own transaction in the Self-Serve line.  We no longer drop off our pictures at the photo lab and wait a week for their development, instead we print them out on our home printer or better yet view them on our wide screen TV.  We don't like to wait!

It has been said that every 10 seconds on hold feels like one minute.  As I listen to taped sales calls where customers are put on hold, it quickly becomes evident that frustration sets in at warp speed.  If the caller is on hold for 90+ seconds, I have found they typically hang up.  This means, if we do choose to put someone on hold we need to be dedicated to making it an extremely minimal hold.  Below are some of my suggestions for evaluating if customers should be put on hold.

1. I personally do not believe Prospective Residents should be put on hold if at all avoidable, especially if it is to answer another call.  Prospective Residents are like a bird in the hand, you have them on the phone, they are interested, and you do not want to interrupt the sales flow.  Therefore, I would let all other calls go to the voicemail/answering service.  (I might reconsider this opinion if I were 100% occupied, 100% leased and had a huge waiting list)
2. Often existing residents realize how busy our offices can be and tend to be a little more flexible.  Provided you have one of those understanding residents on the other end of the line or in front of you, then I think it is ok to put them on hold for a quick minute.  However, I think you definitely have to limit the number of times to two or less, otherwise they we fell less important.
3. Angry residents absolutely cannot be put on hold.  Putting a frustrated resident on hold only adds fuel to the fire.  They need your undivided attention, expecting you to be fully focused on solving their customer service issue.
4. Family and friends need to be trained that between the hours of 9:00 to 5:00 you are off limits other than for emergencies.  If they do happen to call during business hours, it is perfectly acceptable to put them on hold as many times as required.  In fact, if you put them on hold enough times, you might actually train them, calling you at work isn't worth it and they will think twice before dialing your work number next time.
5. Vendors should be considered part of the family, needing to understand you are at work and have to focus on the job at hand.  Putting vendors on hold or asking them to call you back at a different time when you are better staffed and less busy is perfectly acceptable.

I much like the rest of the world hates to be put on hold, it definitely is not a customer service focused choice.  However, sometimes it is a necessary evil, so be sure to evaluate who you are putting on hold before making the decision by using the five points above as your guidelines.  Most of all, remember 10 seconds is equal to a minute.  So as quickly as you put them on hold, you need to remove them from hold - or at least check in every few seconds.

Also remember, having to leave a message is typically not considered frustrating by the customer - especially if the office person gets back to them rapidly. 

Good luck, and remember, never put your commission on hold!