It seems pretty self-explanatory: on-hold messages are messages that play “on hold” over your telephone system. These professionally produced recordings are also an integral part of your company’s marketing strategy. By providing timely, relevant information about your business, an on-hold messaging program reinforces current marketing campaigns and builds brand recognition. This in turn increases call retention by improving the caller experience. To top it all off, it also increases sales by targeting key demographics.
If you think about, the cost of “NOT HAVING” on hold messages is far greater than any investment you may make in custom on hold messages. Why? A lost call equals a lost sale and a lost customer. Two things no business owner wants to hear. And to make matters worse, you also have to consider the wasted advertising spend you invested in order to generate that call. It’s estimated that caller abandonment (caller hangups) cost businesses billions of dollars each year.
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If you need a more advanced configuration, you can set up call menu options with our Virtual Receptionist feature, for no additional charge. Call menu options enable you to play helpful messages like hours and location, transfer callers to voicemail or to a live receptionist, route callers to specific team members (customer service, sales, etc). Our wizard will guide you through the set-up process. It couldn’t be easier.
1) If you should require the necessary hardware, an experienced and reputable on-hold messaging provider should have a list of equipment options that you can choose from. They should be able to thoroughly explain the pros and cons of each, and guide you through or arrange for it to be professionally installed.
The effectiveness of the first three above-mentioned elements are often neutralized by a poor understanding of the broadcast carrier of the On Hold message and how it affects the recording process. For more information on this topic, click here.
When you work with a professional audio production company, that uses legally licensed music and professional voice over talent and has experience editing audio for telephony applications, the sound quality is going to be much better than something put together by an amateur or something you've recorded and thrown together yourself. Professional audio production is very cost-effective, and you'll get a big bang for your buck by going professional.
Sample 5 – “Thanks for holding. Dazzle your clients with delicious cookies featuring your company’s logo! Orders are available for batches as small as 200 cookies! Someone will be with you shortly.”
Aren’t these on hold messages a lot better than being left in silence or just listening to the radio? Rather than being frustrated about waiting you’re being told exactly what you need to know. This saves both the caller and the business time all while increasing the likelihood of a successful deal.
When your company phone rings that caller becomes a prospect. That brief time, spent on hold, can be an extremely powerful marketing tool; and the difference between gaining a client and losing a client. Our approach to on-hold messages is simple: Combine a captive audience with skillfully crafted ads, the right audio image and real marketing objectives and you'll hit a home run every time!
“Call center operators who picked up the phone reported feeling less emotionally exhausted when dealing with customers who heard standard pop music.” –Time, “Why Music on Hold Drives You Crazy”
Although most clients select just one voice talent to read their entire script, some choose two voices for a more interesting finished product. The most common choice is to have both a male and female read the script in an alternating format.
Curation by context is the game of late. We choose music by our mood, by our activity, and by our audience. Spotify lets you browse by mood and events, showcasing playlists that cross multiple genres because music can’t be sorted into individual boxes.
From the moment I contacted the team at Messages on Hold I had nothing but a complete fast and professional experience.
At Healthcare Messages On Hold, we specialize in delivering effective and informative custom telephone on hold messages to the healthcare industry. In any healthcare practice, on hold time is a fact of life. Patients’ calls often involve pulling a chart, looking into billing records or addressing questions that need attention from others.
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How to Format Your On Hold Script. For an average IVR phone system where customers are on hold for 1-3 minutes, it’s wise to have at least two courtesy messages and two marketing messages, with each message timing out to precisely 30 seconds (:30). Hold music should play in between the messages for 30 seconds (:30).
On hold messages and ads are growing in popularity, but there are still plenty of businesses in Australia that don’t realise that their phone is a marketing tool. Think about it – having professional and marketing-driven on hold messages is like having a really great salesperson on the phone with your customers every time they call.