Accounting software wholesale petroleum distributors: How to stop losing time waiting “on hold” for software help.

Has this happened to you? 

You call your software helpdesk for help with an issue. 

You get a machine or a live human. They ask you to explain the problem. You do. 

They place you on hold.  

Someone else picks up and asks you what the problem is. You tell them again.  

They place you back on hold. 

Five…ten…twenty minutes later, you’re still on hold.  

Apparently, you’ve either stumped them, they’re too busy to respond or they just plain forgot you were on the phone.  

Or worse, you got disconnected and now you must start the process over again… 

Or you sent an email to their helpdesk over three days ago and you’re still waiting for a response.  

You probably have no more nerves to hit.   

Poor customer service doesn’t just waste your time and energy, it also impacts your bottom line. 

In fact, MarketWatch conducted an analysis of more than 4 million phone calls and found that over half of Americans say they spend 10-20 minutes weekly, or 43 days of their life, on hold. That’s a lot of time that could be spent growing your business (or golfing) instead. 

How to get out of having to “hold.”  

As you’re aware, there’s an app for just about everything these days. This is great news since there are apps like Lucy Phone and Fast Customer that will wait on hold for you. Then, once an actual person picks up the line, they’ll call you. 

Though these apps can wait on hold like a pro, they’re useless when it comes to getting a timely response on your software issues. To help with this, we suggest you send an email and cc a higher-up in your company. Sometimes just having another party cc’d on the email makes people respond more quickly, especially if they’re paying the bill. 

If you are the higher-up, then call the management team at your accounting software company. Get their email and then cc them every time you email about a support issue. Accountability can help move mountains.  

If you’re tired of the bad customer support you’re getting, it’s time to look for another accounting software partner.  

Before signing up with someone new, be sure to get the details on how they handle support ticket requests and their follow-up regarding emergencies.  

• How do customers submit support request tickets? 

• Typically, in software support, the customer sends an email with the issue. That email is entered into the “ticketing” system and is prioritized and placed into their support staff’s queue to be resolved.  

• On average, how long does it take to resolve an issue?  

• For minor requests, it shouldn’t take more than 1 hour.  
• For advanced issues or anything else that takes longer than 3 hours, the support staff should send you an explanation and updates thereafter until it’s resolved.  

• How frequently are they reviewing the tickets in their queue?  

• They should be monitoring tickets throughout the day.  

Your time is valuable and shouldn’t be wasted on hold or wondering when your software issue will be addressed. 

Whether you choose to use an app, complain to your current provider or find a new accounting software partner, you can help mitigate the negative impact of poor customer support.