Phone On Hold News

We never put people on hold, or try not to put people on hold. Why would we need this?

That’s good. Do you not put people on hold at your business because you are concerned about what they hear when placed on-hold?  When you have a custom on hold message and music recording, you may actually look forward to putting people on hold, because you know the selling process continues while you gather your thoughts and the information you need to address your prospects and clients.  In addition, with multiple phones and calls being transferred from one person to another, putting people on hold is normally unavoidable and the facts prove it… over 70 percent of calls to business are placed on hold (Source: AT&T).

We only put people on hold for a short period of time. Why would we need this?

How long? 10 seconds? 20 seconds? In 10 seconds, a caller on hold just heard they can get a discount on their auto insurance if they also have a life policy with your agency. In 20 seconds, a caller on hold just heard you also offer massage therapy at your chiropractic clinic.  In many cases, just one person asking about something they heard on hold and then making a purchase, can more than pay for your investment in on hold advertising.

When your company plays the radio on hold, your customers are hearing the following:

• Commercials from other businesses – are any of them competitors?
• Announcers are talking, but not about your business
• Music is playing, but does your customer like that song?
• You’ve tuned in the soft rock station – is the reception clear?

Ever wonder why you hear so much static when listening to a radio station on hold?

Most company phone systems are located near a server and other electronic equipment in a closet or small room. This confined area creates a lot of interference and as a result, nearly every radio on hold is filled with static!

Food for Thought:

Imagine someone standing in front of your business everyday. They distract attention away from your business by talking to your customers about the weather and other businesses. Certainly, you would call the police before you let that happen. Now, think of a caller to your business being placed on hold and hearing the radio.

Customer service. Every business strives to make it priority number one and in a perfect world, each customer would receive immediate, productive service.

Ideal, but highly unrealistic.

What really happens is approximately 70 percent of callers to businesses are placed on hold.

While they wait, are these prospects and customers of your business suffering-in-silence? Have they lost focus on their call to your business because they’re listening to the radio?

If you’re serious about building a solid corporate image, consider a custom on hold message and music recording.

You’ve spent time and money building your business. Don’t lose credibility by giving your customers the silent treatment or allowing the local radio station to control the message your customers hear.

With custom on hold messages, your company can quickly offer information about your business to waiting callers who are already interested in your product or service.

There really is no better targeted prospect.

You can use your on hold message recording to direct callers to your website, blog or Facebook page for additional information or specials. Once you connect with them online, you can encourage customers and prospects to share your brand with their friends and associates through their social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.).

That’s some powerful promotion, all started with a simple on hold message program.

Just like any other marketing tool, the on hold provider you choose should be judged on what it can do for your business:

• Reinforces your advertising campaigns
• Promotes specials, seasonal events or products
• Saves staff time with messages that answer frequently asked questions
• Mentions important manufacturers or product lines you represent
• Cross-sells products your sales staff may neglect to mention
• Increases customer knowledge about your business

Info on hold has been proven to do the following:

• Enhance a company’s image
• Decrease caller hang-ups and agitation
• Keep callers interested
• Stimulate new sales

A custom on hold message and music recording can help you quickly and conveniently provide information about your business to a caller, who is already interested in your product or service. Couple that by directing callers waiting on hold to your website, blog or Facebook page for detailed information or specials.

Be heard and seen by targeted customers with each phone call placed to your business.  That’s a powerful combination.

The codecs and processing routines on mobile phones is optimized toward human speech. Any sound not recognized as speech (i.e. music) is minimized to conserve network bandwidth and cancel out noise. Music with a singer has a better chance of being heard, but just music (especially at a low volume) is normally cut out by the codec.

And It doesn’t matter what type or brand of phone you have. What matters is the codec that your mobile provider uses to encode the call content before it puts it over the air. In other words, it’s not that your phone can’t hear the music on hold, it’s that Verizon, AT&T or any carrier is not sending the music to your phone with very good fidelity. The codec discards anything that doesn’t sound like speech.

The Internet has changed the way we do business, yet most of your customers still reach your business by phone.

Human nature is what it is and we want to talk with somebody. So, why are your callers not hearing about your business when you put them on hold?

Telephone On Hold Expectations

A professional on hold message and music program has been proven to do the following:

• Enhance a company’s image
• Decrease caller hang-ups and agitation
• Keep callers interested
• Stimulate new sales

Improve the image of your business by advertising to an interested party, someone who’s already called you and is captive to your message. You can improve sales/profit by retaining callers who might have hung up due to silence or a poorly tuned radio station.

However, just like any other marketing service, the on hold provider you choose should be judged on what it can do for your business:

• Reinforces your advertising campaigns
• Promotes specials, seasonal events or products
• Saves staff time with messages that answer frequently asked questions
• Mentions important manufacturers or product lines you represent
• Cross-sells products your sales staff may neglect to mention
• Increases customer knowledge about your business

An on hold message and music recording that features information about your company gives you control of what your callers hear while waiting and greatly improves their perception of your company.

Researchers in the U.K. polled people to find out when their frustration kicked in after being placed on hold. They found it happens between five and six minutes. More than half of the people who responded said they have been irritated waiting on a call and 4 out of 5 have gotten so upset, they hung up. Results of this poll also showed that 67% of participants felt “annoyed” at having to wait at all. Almost one-third said they felt stressed being on hold for an extended period of time and 19% said they got “angry.” Read More

Can you imagine if they had to listen to a static-filled radio or heard nothing? A quality on hold message and music program can provide a more positive experience for your callers. However, it’s still important to keep hold time to a minimum.

Dan Andrew recently added a message with music that plays for his callers placed on hold. His customers no longer suffer in silence wondering if they are still connected. In addition, he is providing his customers a service by promoting the products and services he offers.

When people call your business, their mind is open to any message you have for them because they want your product or service to fill a need or solve a problem. How well your business fills that need or solves a problem is the difference between success and failure.

Is your business the obvious choice for (insert product/service here)? When people need a new (product/service), do they call you first? Do prospects of your business feel that they would have to be an absolute fool to do business with anyone else but you? If not, why not?

How often do you have your prospects attention when promoting your company? They have called because they are interested. If they are let down, there is always a competitor they can contact.

As a business owner myself, I believe my company is giving prospects and customers quality service they won’t find elsewhere. In fact, most hard-working business owners feel this way. We are so focused on running our business, we don’t have the time to really consider how our prospects and customers perceive our business.

Have you ever called your company and pretended to be a prospect to see how your call is handled? You might be surprised to hear an employee answering the phone with food in their mouth, or the radio station playing on hold has a commerical running from a competitor. Is your phone being answered with enthusiasm that conveys to callers your business is happy to hear from them, or does it sound like you have better things to do?

Some business owners have told us they don’t put people on hold for very long or not at all. We understand, nobody likes to be put on hold. At least that is what people will tell you. What they don’t tell you is they don’t like being put on hold and hearing nothing or a poorly tuned radio station.

You can change your information and hold music as often as needed to reflect changes with your product or service.

Most companies have one on hold message and music recording produced and then update every year or two. Other clients change their hold messages with each new season or have chosen to update their program monthly to offer specials and announce other dated information. New messages can be coordinated to present special events, roll out a new product line, or any other custom needs.

Please also consider the following: Do you receive frequent calls from the same people or do you tend to have a steady stream of new customers? Keeping your on hold message fresh has proven to be more effective when marketing to repeat callers.

For Video and Film makers, Television and Radio broadcasters, Multimedia producers, Game or Software developers, Website owners, Advertisers and more, thousands of high-quality music tracks are available at affordable prices for all of your production needs.

With Royalty Free Music, you pay one-time and use it as long as needed. Your purchase gives you the rights to use music tracks in as many productions as you wish. There are No recurring licensing fees or royalties.

Audio files are made available in high quality WAV or MP3 format and you have the ability to re-download your purchased files at any time if you should misplace them.

In addition, GO Productions in-house musicians can write and compose the perfect music for any project, including Original Scoring for Film, Video, Television and Radio, Corporate Business Applications and Corporate Themes, Product and Training Videos, Tradeshow and Marketing Presentations, Multimedia and Games.