Starting a new business can be exciting and stressful. You have many decisions to make, including products, pricing and marketing. Then, you open your doors and wait for the phone to ring. When it does, it puts a smile on your face and you think about building relationships with a group of customers who become the foundation of your future success. Now it’s all about making a great first impression. You know the saying, “you only get one chance to make a first impression”.
How callers are handled, and how these new customers view your business “image” is critical to a successful launch. On average, about 70 percent of business calls are placed on hold, meaning your callers will probably experience inevitable “hold-time”. No one likes being on hold, because it means waiting, or time wasted. How should a business deal with the problem of customers waiting on hold?
Callers On Hold Present An Opportunity
Why not view on-hold time as an opportunity? If professionally produced, a custom on hold message heard during telephone on hold time will deliver marketing messages that connect with customers and build the image of your brand. Easy On Hold started helping new businesses in 1997, conducting surveys and interviews with business owners to find out how to best serve business callers. Business owners told us they found changing messages a hassle, and feared the embarrassment of playing messages that were out-of-date. The alternative was to play messages that were too generic, cheesy-sounding and meaningless. It’s true that the generic-sounding “thank you for holding” messages without even so much as your company name ring of insincerity. Clearly, the best solution uses custom on hold messages with announcements that bring real value to the wait time.
Tip: Hear examples of custom on hold messages, organized by industry.
What Should My Custom On Hold Messages Contain?
When you begin to consider what callers on hold should hear while they wait, be sure to focus on your callers and their needs. Why are they calling? What would keep them interested and even inspired? Do your best to avoid “tell and sell”, after all, this is not a commercial, but a conversation with people who have reached out to you, and are in an excellent position to make buying decisions based on what they hear while on hold.
With new technologies developed and employed by Easy On Hold, each unique talking point you deploy can have its own start and stop date, so don’t be afraid to use upcoming events, short-term offers and date-specific content in your hold message productions. When information is current and relevant, callers stay on the line longer and become more interested in what is being said. A call to action in your custom on hold message scripts will tell callers what they can do with the information they’ve just learned. For example, a medical office can provide tips for staying healthy, but adding the suggestion of going to a website, registering for a newsletter or asking further questions suggest an action the caller can take. Building interactivity with your clients makes them more invested in your organization, and builds relationships. Now you’re getting somewhere!
How Much Do Custom On Hold Messages Cost?
A small monthly fee between $49 and $79 can be all it takes to get the professional sound of an established business—which is just what your new business needs to convince callers to choose you and stay with you as a customer for life.
As a new business, you’re being extra careful about cash flow. Easy On Hold works with many new businesses looking for affordable marketing without a large financial commitment. Each of Easy On Hold’s staff (known as music on hold experts) has experience with new businesses and has received training on ways to keep start-up costs down for these clients. One way that’s done is with a “zero down” option, whereby Easy On Hold will provide a custom on hold message service, and in some cases even on hold equipment, with no cash up front. If you feel you can get your hold button playing audio without the help of a telephone technician you can save even more. Easy On Hold has authored many articles on how to install hold music systems. They can be found at https://easyonhold.com.
