A new survey shows 62% of people are spending longer on the phone to businesses than three years ago, a figure that was only 46% the previous year. The research from Moneypenny, which handles over 20 million calls and chats for businesses annually, also found that 76% of customers cite a company not putting their phone number on their website as a major source of irritation.

“What’s an immediate way to frustrate more than three quarters of your customers and leads? Not give them a phone number,” said Richard Culberson, CEO of Moneypenny North America and Voice Nation. “Even if they never use it, they know they have a way of getting in touch and being able to talk to someone. Further, not seeing a phone number can understandably create trepidation about your brand.”

In the survey, Moneypenny found the phone is where customers go for urgent (50%) or complicated (39%) requests, but a slew of irks continue to plague callers. The biggest issues for people trying to contact a business were calls not being answered (40%), complex call attendant messages (33%) and having to leave a voicemail (30%). Other areas that caused irritation included annoying hold music (29%), being told to check the website (28%), feeling rushed/not listened to (26%), being asked to call back (25%), or background call center noise (21%).

There are clear generational differences in preferences for how to communicate, with older generations using the phone and email more than younger age groups that prefer to use social media. For example, 56% of Baby Boomers and 44% of Generation X (age 43-58) prefer calling a business, compared to just 22% of Gen Z (age 16-26) and 26% of Millennials. In contrast, 19% of Gen Z and 13% of Millennials would use social media to contact a company, compared with only 3% of Gen X and 2% of Baby Boomers. A similar trend appeared with Chatbots as younger generations are more likely to use them, with 49% of Gen Z and 56% of Millennials, but only 27% of Baby Boomers. 

Moneypenny’s Customer Communications Trend Report¹ also highlights that a bad call experience can significantly impact ongoing business success, as almost 46% of people say they would go elsewhere following a poor call, while 41% would call back and ask to speak to someone else and 35% would make a complaint to the business. 

Richard Culberson, CEO North America at Moneypenny, commented: “Our survey shows that people want to talk to people, but poor phone etiquette is a major turn-off, and it’s costing firms business.  Just one bad call can result in both lost revenue and a damaged reputation.” 

To read Moneypenny’s Customer Communications Trend Report in full, visit – Call trends report