“Well… we try not to put callers on hold”

“We only put customers on hold for a short period of time”

That’s good. And you do that because you appreciate your customer’s business and value their time. Your in good company… many business owners feel the same.

However, we have also discovered that many business owners avoid putting customers on hold because their callers might hang-up when they hear silence.

That does happen, but when your callers hear a custom on hold message and music recording, not only do they know they are still connected, but you also show them you care.

And most important, you no longer have to think about it. There is now a continuous message playing for your callers and selling your business. You may start putting people on hold on purpose.

Most companies try not to put people on hold, but you can only answer one call at a time. In addition, with multiple phones and calls being transferred from one person to another, putting people on hold is unavoidable.

A NATIONAL STUDY PUBLISHED BY NORTH AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION REPORTS:

Callers with SILENCE-ON-HOLD will abandon their calls in less than one minute; 90% hang up within 40 seconds.
 
Callers with MUSIC-ON-HOLD will stay on the line 30 seconds longer than with only silence.
 
Callers with INFORMATION-ON-HOLD will stay on the line for up to 3 minutes longer.
 
US WEST COMMUNICATIONS FOUND THAT INFORMATION-ON-HOLD RESULTS IN:
 
40% increase in retention of callers on-hold
 
15% increase in inquiries
 
12% increase in requests for products and services mentioned on-hold
 
Telemarketing Magazine – “Over 70% of business callers are put on-hold…”
 
OfficeTeam Survey – “The average executive spends 17 minutes per day on-hold…”
 
CNN Survey – “The average person spends 60 hours per year on-hold…”
 
CNN Survey – “Without music or messages, 60% of those on-hold will hang up and 30% won’t call back…”
 
Cellular Marketing Magazine – “Over 85% of callers prefer on-hold messages over silence…”
 
Telemarketing Magazine – “Surveys show that 15% to 20% of callers make purchases based on information they heard on-hold…”
 

Nobody likes to be put on hold. It ranks somewhere between an IRS audit and having a root canal. However, it’s likely you will have to place callers on hold even for a short period of time.

But what if you could improve your company’s image with a custom message program that plays for your callers while they wait on hold?  Think of it as automated customer service or a salesperson that works for free 24/7.

Even in the age of the Internet, most customers still reach your business by telephone and with 70 percent of callers being placed on-hold*, this is a golden opportunity to educate them about your products and services.