Choosing The Right On Hold Music For Your Business
While quick and painless for most, others lose sleep when considering all the musical selections available for their on hold message recording.
Here are some things to consider that will hopefully simplify the process for you:
Are more of your callers male or female? Men and women respond differently to music. A major study found that time spent on hold was perceived to be shortest for men when classical music was played, but for women, the wait seemed longer when listening to classical. Female callers perceived a shorter hold time when light jazz was playing. Rock was the least preferred across both gender groups and produced the longest waiting time estimates. Read More
What is your average hold time? The longer the wait, the more important your selection. You may like the choice you made, but how does it sound after three minutes or more?
What do your callers expect? If your business sells cool auto accessories to a younger clientele to ‘trick out their ride,’ soft jazz music on hold may not be effective in keeping them excited about your business, especially after hearing an energetic radio commercial that motivated them to call in the first place. At the same time, a caller to a dentist office might be surprised to hear a message about implants or root canal surgery, set to energetic alternative rock.
Overall, ask yourself, is this selection a good fit? Sometimes a gut reaction leads to the best decision. Afterall, you know your successful business better than anyone.
Silence Is Golden? Not During Business Hours
‘Can you hear me now?’ Certainly that question is familiar to you since cell phones began taking over the world in the late 90’s.
How about this one ‘Are You There?’ or ‘Did They Hang Up On Me?’
You may have heard those questions before or asked them yourself when calling a business that placed your call on hold in dead silence. No cricket sounds… nothing.
This is the reality for thousands of companies across the country that place callers on hold and leave them wondering if they are on hold or were disconnected.
To make matters worse, a new study reveals that over 50 percent of calls to businesses are made from mobile phones. As we learned in December (See ‘Why Does My Cell Phone Break Up When I Hear On Hold Music?’) mobile phones are optimized toward human speech, not music, so even if you have music playing on hold, without a message, callers often feel abandoned quite quickly and simply hang up.
You spend too much money and put in too much effort getting people to call your business, don’t turn them off when they do. A custom on hold message and music program will make callers feel connected to your company and reduce hang-ups.
Getting Started Creating An On Hold Message Script
You know your business better than anyone, so creating a script with information about your business that your callers will hear each time they are placed on hold should be a simple process, right?
Well, there is a process if the material is to be effective and doing it incorrectly, you run the risk of annoying or alienating the prospects and customers you are trying to attain or retain through other marketing opportunities.
Of course, you know you need to identify your company and include your location, website address, and maybe your operating hours, company history and philosophy. You certainly also want to highlight your products and services, but how should you go about it and where do you begin?
If you do not have a lot of experience with scriptwriting, you should consider hiring a professional. There are many independent writers available who can help you craft a workable script for you. Your on hold provider also offers this service and in most cases, scriptwriting is included with your purchase of an on hold recording and/or telephone IVR prompts.
However, if you wish to take a stab at it yourself, here are some tips from experienced writers for scripting on-hold messages. Remember you already have your callers’ attention, so unlike radio or television where you need to gain your potential prospects’ attention before you deliver your message, an on-hold message program allows you to get right to the point with information about your products and services.
- Avoid “question and answer” preludes to your message. Launch right into the details.
- No hype needed. Think of your on hold messages as a press release. Don’t tell callers your company is the best, tell them ‘why’ you are the best and then prove it with detailed information.
- Don’t assume that the caller has heard the previous message. A caller can be put on hold at any point during your on hold presentation because your program is always playing even when there are no callers hold, so don’t assume they have heard the previous message. Refer to your company, products or services by their appropriate names rather than “it” or “this” since you may create confusion and reduce the effectiveness of your message.
- Your script may look good on paper, but that doesn’t mean it will sound good, so when finished, be sure to read your messages out loud. An on hold script should be written for the spoken word, so do not include content you wouldn’t say to prospects and customers in-person or during a phone conversation.
What should you include in your script besides the basic information about your company? Depending on the complexity of your product or service and the amount of time you expect your callers to spend on hold, consider the following:
- Let your caller know in each message where they are… ‘Thank you for calling Our Dentist Office.’
- Give callers on hold something to think about. “New materials and techniques have been perfected to make your smile unforgettable. In some instances, life-changing improvements can be made in just one visit.”
- Tell callers something they don’t know about you. “Doctor Dave graduated with honors from Florida State University, where he was awarded top honors in his class for oral surgery.”
- Is there any news your caller should know about? “Please note our new location at 1122…”
- Be courteous and thank callers for holding. “We value your business. Someone will be right with you.” Do not underestimate the power of courtesy. It will be appreciated and help diffuse any irritation some people might experience for being kept on hold, even for a short period of time.
- Give callers another option. “If you do not wish to continue holding, please press zero to leave a message. The next available representative will return your call as soon as possible.”
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