Guest Article by Greg Simmel
A customer might come to your front door but, more likely, will want to reach you by phone. Several surveys in 2021 and 2022 confirm that the inbound phone call is still the king of customer contact. Unfortunately, for many businesses, the telephone is possibly the most overlooked gateway to success. Phone time presents an ideal opportunity to escalate sales. Yes, it is important to use the best hold music (we’ve got a great article called “The Best On Hold Music I Ever Heard” to help you research. To help grow your business and communicate with your callers, you will also want the best on hold messages. These are the spoken announcements (messaging) added to your hold music that tell your captive audience about ways to interact with your company. Phone On Hold Messaging can build relationships while your agents are busy. Here are 5 vital tips for best practices in developing on hold messages the work.
Get To The Point
So if your messages on hold scripts look good on paper or a website, then it’s fine, right? Nope. Writing for print is very different from writing for the ear. Obviously, print copy appeals to the eye and can be read and re-read over and over again while skipping “non-essential” details. Messages on hold scripts should be approached differently. Our tip? Say what needs to be said, and in a way that works for the EAR. Here’s an example from a message on hold for a pest removal company:
“Moles. They can cause a lot of damage. You don’t like moles, and neither do we. Let’s get rid of ’em. We’ll be right back to tell you how.”
A short and punchy script gets your point across quickly, and with fewer words. You’ll make more of a lasting impression.
Know your average hold time
You should know, or at least have an educated guess, about the average length of hold time your caller experience. It could be 10 seconds; it could be six minutes. If callers stay on hold for a minute or longer, don’t bombard them with a non-stop recitation of all you do. There’s only so much a caller can absorb. Talk to your music and message on hold company about spacing out the voiced messages in a way that gives the caller some musical breaks between topics. Shorter hold times call for short, single-idea paragraphs. Longer hold times give you more options.
Update, update, update
You have a lot to deal with when it comes to marketing. Have your Messages-on-Hold dropped down to the bottom of your priority list? You want your messages to be relevant and up-to-date, rather than bland and generic. Think about putting your current promotions and most important announcements in the spotlight. Plan ahead. Look into the streaming on hold messages options that automatically update messages for you. Schedule unique messages to be played exactly when the time is right. Here are some examples of messages with a sharp focus:
“Say “aloha” to Hawaii Bonus Days on Norwegian Cruise Line. Book any Hawaii cruise by September 1st and get $100 to spend onboard. Start practicing your hula because now’s the perfect time to book your piece of paradise.”
Use a call to action for the best on hold messages
If you are already changing and refreshing your audio regularly, you may sometimes hit a bit of a dry spell. If this happens, ask yourself, “What do I want my caller to do?” That will prompt a call to action that can not only spice up your on-hold messages, but spark callers to do more business with you.
Have some fun
Who says on hold messages have to be dull? Try one of these techniques to bring a little cheerfulness to your patient callers:
- Play off the current season. Spring cleaning. Summer vacation. Fall sports. Holiday and New Year’s Day. In content marketing it’s called an editorial calendar. What’s coming with the change of seasons?
- What callers don’t know. Introduce a really cool fact about your company that might raise an eyebrow (or two). You’ll boost your hold message’s entertainment value while making the audio more memorable.
- Voices and sounds. Mix male and female voices in a conversation. Easy On Hold client Multipet International the best on hold messages because they have fun with their product while promoting what’s new.
“Multipet’s classic plush stuffed birds with honking sounds, have taken on a new addition. We have put recycled water bottles inside the birds, eliminating the stuffing and adding the crunch sounds that dogs enjoy (crunchy water bottle sounds). Ohhh, the dogs are gonna love this!”
As a professional scriptwriter, I once thought that wordsmithing on-hold messages would be a snap. After years of experience in the phone on hold industry, I can tell you that creating effective Messages on Hold audio presents its own unique challenges. Smart marketing calls for collaboration with professionals, so let’s work together to “make the wait great”!
