Call Centre Queuers Prefer Comedy

PRLog (Press Release) - Nov 25, 2008 -
Call centres are a huge frustration, but despite long waits, being cut off and high call charges, new research has found that callers would rather listen to comedy, news and heavy metal whilst on hold - proving Brits need something to laugh at while their patience is being tested.

Comedy was the first option for frustrated callers, with nearly one in four (23 per cent) favouring “comic relief” while on hold; news was the second most popular choice (18 per cent) for people wanting to catch up on current affairs whilst enduring a potentially long wait.

Heavy metal also proved a very popular option, with 16 per cent of callers wanting to alleviate frustrations by “rocking out” when on hold, possibly to fire them up for an impending row when they actually get through to an operator.

According to new research by online insurance company http://www.swiftcover.com/, which polled 878 consumers nationwide, the top choices of hold music people want to listen to are:

  1. Comedy 23 per cent
  2. News 18 per cent
  3. Heavy Metal 16 per cent
  4. Current Pop 15 per cent
  5. 80s cheese 10 per cent
  6. Classical 9 per cent
  7. Motown 8 per cent

More traditional kinds of hold music like Classical and Motown are wanted less by callers proving that call centres are not listening to what there users really want.

The research also found that call centres continue to be one of the largest annoyances to British consumers, with 91 per cent of British consumers irritated by having to hang on the telephone to get through to an operator.

Nearly half (43 per cent) of those surveyed are regularly put on hold for half an hour. In addition, four out of five (81 per cent) callers have been cut off after waiting for ten minutes or more.

Commenting on the results, Tina Shortle, marketing director at http://www.swiftcover.com/carinsurance/ said: "Because people are often forced to wait on hold for very long periods of time, the music played can make a huge difference. We hope companies with call centres will take note of customer's choice of hold music, and use it to elevate, rather than increasing callers frustrations."

"The research confirms the fact that call centres continually frustrate people and that service isn’t improving. One of the main reasons swiftcover.com’s business model is internet-based is because we acknowledged that call centres were inefficient and consumers didn’t like them."