Lady Janey is unapologetic in her crusade to improve the customer service experience for the millions of Brits left on hold, battling automated voices or unhelpful advisors.
Known as the Queen of Customer Service, Lady Janey has now teamed up with Talkmobile in a bid to empower customers across the UK to confront the firms who fall short.
Their partnership comes hot on the heels of Talkmobile being crowned Best Contact Centre at the International Customer Experience Awards 2024 in November.
(Image: Lady Janey) It comes as new research from the mobile network operator reveals the average Brit spends close to 40 minutes on hold to a call centre before eventually giving up.
Lady Janey, real name Jane Hawkes, said: “Companies that keep you on hold are relying on you giving up, I really believe that. They are relying on you falling at the first hurdle.
“But if you’re prepared to wait on the call for 40 minutes it shows it’s important – but we don’t have time to do that.
“Once you get through, there’s nothing worse than being passed from pillar to post and having to repeat the same information again and again.
“It’s also very much a script the advisors follow, and their flexibility to deviate from that script and appreciate things are often grey rather than black and white escapes some.
“It’s a tall order trying to get even a general query resolved, it’s like a Bush Tucker Trial – never mind a problem that’s causing you a lot of upset and stress and aggravation.
“And, not forgetting the endless hold music, you really are bombarded. It’s no wonder people give up.”
Now Lady Janey has devised a top 10 list of hacks to help Brits get around the seemingly endless waits and speak to a human being on the end of the line.
Top call centre 10 hacks to get through quicker
When calling a company about a query – however big or small – try the following tips to get through the automated filter faster.
- IGNORE all options provided by the bot and simply wait to be transferred when no response is detected.
- Reply YES or NO to every question
- Dial ZERO, multiple zeros or multiple hashtags.
- Say ‘speak to a real person’ or ’speak to agent’
- Make a note of the order of options so you can fire through them and press ahead on future calls.
- Choose the option for ‘thinking of leaving.’ This puts you through to a dedicated retention team that will be empowered to offer incentives and deals. They may also be able to connect you directly to the most appropriate department for refunds and redress if applicable. Equally choose the ’sales’ option and ask to be transferred.
- Provide nonsensical voice recognition answers when presented with a series of options to be connected quicker to a representative as the system will not understand your responses.
- Use the ring back facility – if available – to avoid having to wait on hold.
- Reduce your wait by making smart calls. Ring at optimum times. Call off peak during the working day if you can and avoid weekends.
- Save yourself the hassle and don’t call unless you need to. Recording complaints in particular through online webchat or email creates a record of evidence should you need it. You also will not need to repeatedly explain the same issue to different people every time you call.
For more information, advice and tips on how to empower yourself when dealing with customer service, visit Lady Janey’s website.
Talkmobile’s research reveals nearly two-thirds (60%) of Brits have spent up to 45 minutes on the phone listening to hold music or hearing repeated assurances their call is important.
More than a third (35%) of Brits said they have waited at least an hour to be connected with an advisor and worse still over one in 10 have waited 60 minutes or more for help with an inquiry.
And, a quarter of Brits (27%) say they’re willing to wait up to half an hour before they’ll give up and put the phone down, slightly fewer are prepared to hang on for a further 15 minutes.
The average amount of time a UK caller is prepared to wait until hanging up the phone is 38.2 minutes, according to the study.
Lady Janey added: “I’m sadly not surprised with the findings of this Talkmobile study.
“If people are prepared to wait on hold for nearly 40 minutes to speak to someone then that should be a clear message to any call centre operator that their customers’ calls are important.
“Big companies and organisations are keen to impress that we are valued customers but what they must realise is customer service begins the moment their number is dialled.
“A long wait on the line, then being passed from pillar to post can turn a loyal customer into an angry one who is ready to take their business elsewhere.
“A dissatisfied customer tends to tell nine to 15 people about their experience, most satisfied ones tell around six others. Companies would do well to remember that.”