On Hold Facts and Figures

A NATIONAL STUDY PUBLISHED BY NORTH AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION REPORTS:

Callers with SILENCE-ON-HOLD will abandon their calls in less than one minute; 90% hang up within 40 seconds.
 
Callers with MUSIC-ON-HOLD will stay on the line 30 seconds longer than with only silence.
 
Callers with INFORMATION-ON-HOLD will stay on the line for up to 3 minutes longer.
 
US WEST COMMUNICATIONS FOUND THAT INFORMATION-ON-HOLD RESULTS IN:
 
40% increase in retention of callers on-hold
 
15% increase in inquiries
 
12% increase in requests for products and services mentioned on-hold
 
Telemarketing Magazine – “Over 70% of business callers are put on-hold…”
 
OfficeTeam Survey – “The average executive spends 17 minutes per day on-hold…”
 
CNN Survey – “The average person spends 60 hours per year on-hold…”
 
CNN Survey – “Without music or messages, 60% of those on-hold will hang up and 30% won’t call back…”
 
Cellular Marketing Magazine – “Over 85% of callers prefer on-hold messages over silence…”
 
Telemarketing Magazine – “Surveys show that 15% to 20% of callers make purchases based on information they heard on-hold…”