If you’ve ever had a problem that you’ve needed to sort over the phone, you know how frustrating it can be when you have to deal with long wait times or have multiple departments you are passed through until you actually get through to the person that you need to speak to.
However, how long you wait on the phone to get your problem resolved will completely depend on the industry.
A study from contact centre software experts, MaxContact, has surveyed contact centre teams across different industries to reveal which ones have the shortest and longest handle times, as well as what overall impact this can have on your business.
Average Handle Time For Calls Per Industry
According to the survey, it was the construction industry that reported the quickest handle time for calls, with the mean time revealed to be just under 6.88 minutes.
This could be attributed to the fact that construction company enquiries can be more straightforward than other industries due to the nature of the inquiries. For example, some customers may call for clear-cut reasons like checking product availability or confirming delivery schedules, which can typically be addressed with standard answers as opposed to lengthy conversations.
Following closely behind was the charity sector, with the mean handle time for calls revealed to be around 6.93 minutes.
Similar to the construction industries, typical conversations with contact centre agents at charities tend to be around straightforward queries such as those regarding donations or confirming details.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have the engineering and banking industries that have longer mean average times of 8.63 and 8.55 minutes, respectively.
Below, Ben Booth, CEO and Founder of MaxContact, has highlighted the importance of making sure your contact centre is as efficient as it can be to maximise results:
“Keeping average handle time optimised for contact centres is crucial because it can directly impact your business’s operational efficiency, overall customer satisfaction, and how you spend money—in essence, it is important to get the balance right between customer satisfaction (CSAT) and average handle time (AHT).
“Ultimately, to optimise your call handling time most effectively, you need to identify the reasons why your call time is so high and whether tactics need to be implemented. It may not necessarily be because your call centre is less efficient, but more because agents are handling more complex calls that take a longer time to resolve. Whatever the reason, there are ways to bring it down without compromising on the experience of your customers.”
For additional information on MaxContact visit their Website
