Insurance businesses in North America risk losing business by making customers wait on hold for almost 28 seconds, new research has revealed.

Every call made to companies in the insurance sector as part of the large-scale study, conducted by audio branding specialist PHMG, was put on hold, compared to a North American average of 70 percent. Those callers are being forced to wait for 27.53 seconds on average, slightly less than the North American average of 28.39 seconds.

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Risk of caller hang-ups


To make matters worse, callers are left listening to inappropriate audio, which could increase the risk of caller hang-ups. The research discovered 27 percent of insurance firms' subject callers to beeps, while 24 percent leave customers waiting in silence, 24 percent use generic music and 22 percent make callers listen to ringing.

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Jayleen R. Heft

Jayleen Heft is the digital content editor for PropertyCasualty360.com. Contact her at [email protected].