The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Operational decision · 2015–2016
Myer paid charity for every second customers waited on hold
Myer turned hold music into a donation pledge, so waiting on the line raised money for charity and callers stopped hanging up.
Myer
the move
Myer was fighting for relevance and shedding a reputation as unfriendly and financially shaky. Its call centre put about 600,000 customers on hold each year, and over 40% hung up — about 240,000 unhappy customers.
The agency McQueen reframed the wait with Wonderful Hold Music: Myer donated money to charity for every second a caller stayed on the line, turning the unglamorous hold experience into a fundraising opportunity.
Rather than trying to shorten the wait or make it less annoying, the idea made the wait itself valuable, so callers had a reason to stay connected rather than a reason to leave.
It was an operational fix from the customer's side of the call, requiring no new staff and no change to the phone system's basic role.
why it works
- 40% abandonment meant callers did not even reach service, wasting the call.
- A charity pledge gives the caller a reason to stay rather than a reason to hang up.
- It converts a cost centre (hold time) into a fundraising source for the brand.
- The fix needed no new staff, only a reframing of the waiting experience.
what transfers
Turn the time a customer must wait into a benefit they control; giving the wait a purpose removes the frustration that drives abandonment.
what came after
Across 84,773 calls between 15 November 2015 and 2 January 2016, only 4,574 were abandoned, about 5.4% — down from more than 40%. The case was recognised with an Effie Australia award and written about in the industry press as an example of solving a customer-service problem with a simple reframing.
references
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