Many business owners treat on hold messaging as a set and forget task. Updating messaging regularly is yet another job in the hectic life of a business owner, and one that can feel fruitless if not done well.
For those of you who find this task falls into the ‘too hard’ basket, take a look at the following 3 facts.

  • 70% of callers to businesses are put on hold.

That’s right, an astonishing seventy percent of your callers first impressions of your company or service is via on hold messaging. That is way too many potential sales to make, new customers to impress and old customers to retain to leave in the hands of sub-standard hold programs.

  • On average a person spends 15 minutes a day on hold = 60 hours a year.

That’s a lot of time for customers to get bored, irritated or hang up in. The more our customers experience holding the less they like it, you need to make sure your on hold music and messages are tailored to reduce burnout, this is even more important if they are repeat callers.

  • Advertisements played over hold messaging have a sales success rate of 15-20%.

You have a captive audience when it comes to on hold messaging; a well-crafted message could see your sales boosted during a waiting period many business owners consider ‘dead’ time. In addition using hold messages can put sales deal right in front of the customer, leaving your frontline team free to focus on customer service.

Laid out in such plain terms it’s hard to avoid the necessity of frequently updating your on hold messaging.  Update to reflect seasonal changes, specials and deals, or simply to avoid your hold music becoming stagnant for repeat callers. Be sure to personally check what your hold program is playing on a monthly basis and freshen it up as often is needed.

Still sound too hard? Consult with a professional on hold and voice over company to develop creative on hold messaging schedule your customers will respond to.