I’m sitting at the airport waiting for a flight to Minneapolis where I’ll be attending a few CCC meetings.  I’m at gate B72.  Coincidentally, the flight at the adjoining gate—B74—is also going to Minneapolis (different airline).  The flights are scheduled only 10 minutes apart; I’m leaving on Airline A at 11am, and Airline B next door leaves at 11:10. 

Here’s where it gets interesting: although my flight is listed “on time,” Airline B is boarding the plane already—the one that is supposedly leaving 10 minutes AFTER my flight.  General confusion is breaking out at my gate.  One guy says the gate agent told him our flight is delayed—the plane won’t arrive for 20 minutes.  The people on my flight are now glaring at the gate agent—who has not made a peep—as we watch Airline B prepare to depart. 

This is an unfortunate situation, and one that could have been mitigated with up-to-date information.  (Incidentally, the announcement has been made that our flight is delayed and we should NOT try to board next door.  Now people are asking why the flight is still listed “on time.”)

In the service world, this translates into Estimated Wait Time—which is now appearing in unique places.  Recently, I’ve seen two advertisements for Emergency Room estimated waits…one on a hospital’s Web site and another on a highway billboard displaying a live feed of the estimated wait.  (My thought: “Oh, good.  If I get in an accident, it will only be a 45-minute wait at the ER!”).  As more people use ERs for everyday medical needs due to lack of insurance, I suppose this trend makes sense.  (I, for one, would love to see this practice at our pediatrician’s office!)

For call centers, I always appreciate it when the estimated wait time is announced in queue.  It is much more pleasant to know I’ll be waiting 9 minutes than to repeatedly hear “your call is important to us, and we’ll answer in the order in which calls are received.”  I’ve read that people perceive time passing more slowly (read: high effort) when they sit in silence as opposed to having distraction.  Most companies provide queue distraction in the form of music, which helps time pass “more quickly”…knowing the actual wait time would go even further, I would venture to guess, in reducing the customer perception of the effort they put forth in the interaction.

Side note: Estimated wait time can also be very beneficial for Web chat…better to know it will be 5 minutes rather than sit there wondering why no one is responding—and picking up the phone to call while I wait to find out.

BUT…there’s a big caveat that comes with Estimated Wait Time.  You have to be right.  Nothing worse than being told it will be 9 minutes and it ends up taking 15.  In fact, it might even be better to just repeat “your call is important to us” than to provide an incorrect wait time.  So, plan accordingly.  In general, I’d suggest that if you can’t accurately (and consistently) estimate within a 3-5 minute range, you are probably causing more harm than good.

[CCC members, learn more about customer IVR expectations in our online resource center, and I also recommend our research on setting customer expectations for time to issue resolution.]

My gate agent could benefit from this lesson…the flight is still “on time”, it’s now 7 minutes before take-off, and no more news from the gate agent.  No sign of the plane.

What’s your opinion on Estimated Wait Time?  Do you use it?  Any interesting encounters with the concept in “real life”?

Related posts:

1. Customers Don’t Mind the Wait (As Long As It’s Worth It)
2. When 3 is Less Than 2
3. Want an Effective IVR? There’s an App For That
4. How Call Centers Use Behavioral Economics to Sway Customers