The working day is getting longer as customers demand attention outside traditional 9-5 hours.

A study into incoming business call volumes by call answering service alldayPA, tracked over a million calls from a two year period, to reveal the working day now begins at 8am and runs until 8pm.

It found that 41% more worker time is spent dealing with customers outside traditional 9 to 5 office hours, compared with three years ago, creating a rapid demand for 24 hour services.

Legal and e-commerce businesses have seen the biggest rise in 8am to 8pm working with legal firms seeing an 80% rise in calls outside 9 to 5.

Reuben Singh, Chief Executive Officer at alldayPA, said: “Customer expectations are changing radically. The 8-to-8 opening hours are seen as the norm rather than the exception. Businesses advertising telephone services should expect calls whenever customers see a listing or advert, whatever time of day, or night that is. Legal firms are experiencing the biggest growth due to greater emphasis on advertising personal injury claim lines and other helplines.”

While larger businesses are adapting to these changing customer expectations using shift workers and international call centres, research suggests that small and medium sized companies are simply lengthening their working day and putting greater pressure on staff.

“For smaller, fast-growing businesses, the 8-to-8 customer culture presents a real risk both in terms of the wellbeing of entrepreneurs and bosses, but also a risk to the quality of customer service that is offered,” said Reuben.

Legal practices that are affected by this situation and are looking for ways to develop their firms may find it helpful to discuss their options and financial issues with professional advisers that specialise in this area. For more information about how Milsted Langdon can help you, please contact us.