You know the drill: you’re stuck on hold, the same looping music playing over and over. Every few minutes, a recorded voice promises someone will be with you soon – but “soon” never seems to come. When you finally get through, you’re passed from one department to another, each time explaining your problem from scratch.
Meanwhile, the clock’s ticking, and you’re losing valuable time. Time you could be spending on the road, earning money and getting jobs done.
Sound familiar? For many van drivers and business owners, this frustrating scenario is all too common. It’s a perfect example of how poor customer service isn’t just annoying – it’s costly.
What’s the problem?
Customer service standards didn’t just drop overnight – it’s been caused by a mix of problems. Yes, Covid-19 was a big trigger, bringing staff shortages, supply chain issues, and a sudden shift to remote working, all made things worse. But that was five years ago.
Blaming the pandemic feels like an old excuse – it’s one your own clients surely don’t put up with. So why should you?
The most common customer service complaints:
- Waiting a long time on hold
- Passed between departments without a helpful response
- Call disconnecting without explanation/resolution
- AI chatbots giving unhelpful answers
- Unable to find company’s contact information
How much time is wasted?
Ever wondered how much time you actually waste on hold? We’ve done the math!
Taxpayers spent seven million hours on hold to HMRC in 2022-23, which works out to a staggering 798 years. Energy and broadband customers also spent over 27 million hours last year working out customer service issues. Which? estimates that the average person wasted two hours of their time on energy customer service issues and over 90 minutes on broadband complaints.
Banking is another problem sector: In the first half of 2024 alone, consumers lodged 101,031 banking and credit complaints, including disputes about credit cards and unaffordable lending, car finance woes, as well as fraud and scams.
Making insurance easier
As a business owner, your time is money. You can’t afford to sit on hold endlessly if that means missing out on earnings. And why should you have to?
Even online insurance renewal can be frustrating. It’s not always clear what’s covered, or what you need (and don’t need). You end up trying to compare multiple policies at once, unclear on what you should be looking for. If you’re busy, it’s easy to get distracted and just pick the first cheap and cheerful option you can find. But these often don’t mean good value. In fact, you could be paying for a policy that doesn’t properly cover you and will cost you more in the long run.
Why use a broker?
Remember that nightmare scenario from the start of this blog? Let’s pose an alternative – you ring up an insurance broker, such as Howden, and one of the local team members picks up. You can explain straight away what you need cover for and leave it with them.
That means they’ll do all the leg work in the background, comparing policies for you so that you’re free to crack on with what you need to. Whether that’s your next job, or something at home, you’ve got that time back to work on what really matters.
Then, you can expect to hear back from your own insurance expert, a few hours later. They’ll explain the best policy they’ve found, what’s included and how much it all costs. And even better, you know that if you had any questions in the future or had to make a claim, the local branch can be there to help.
And for those who prefer to do their business in-person, you have the option of popping into your local branch and enjoying a coffee while you talk it through.
Take back control
Let’s make 2025 the year we demand more from customer service. Before you sign up to use a company’s services, take a look at its Trustpilot scores. What do customers say about their service? If reviewers say that they’ve been able to speak to a real person, or get issues resolved quickly, you’re onto a winner. Why not have a look at ours?
With access to a range of mainstream and niche insurers, we can help you find the right protection for your business, van and more. Search Howden Insurance to find your local business branch.
Sources: Financial Times, Which?
You could also read:
- Yes or no to Blue Monday?
- 2024’s most popular van revealed
- Is your home in a new flood hotspot?
- Is buying a caravan worth the cost?
- Dashcams and driver scores – do they reduce your premium?
This is a marketing blog by Howden Insurance.