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.

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.

“The research results do not reflect particularly well on the insurance sector, as few firms appear to be employing a best practice approach to call handling, according to Mark Williamson, CEO at PHMG. "It’s worrying that customers are being left on hold for almost 28 seconds as this can be a major irritation for customers, but what makes matters worse is that they are left in silence or listening to poor-quality music, which increases the risk of hang-ups."

First call satisfaction important

A previous study of 2,234 U.S. consumers found 59 percent will not do business with a company again if their first call isn’t handled to satisfaction. Therefore, it is important companies do everything they can to improve the experience.

This latest study also found insurance firms answer the phone within an average of three rings, yet none of the businesses were found to use an auto-attendant service to greet callers outside of normal business hours.

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Insurance offices risk losing business by making callers wait on hold

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