You can use an on hold message and music program to give your customers valuable information while they wait.  Examples include: directions, hours, specialties, services, promotions, etc.  Remind your customers of the reasons for doing business with you.

Here are a few more advantages:

• Increases your sales with powerful and inexpensive advertising
• Decreases hang-up rates (a caller who hangs up is not going to buy)
• Tells your customers what they don’t know about your company
• Keeps you out of court (playing radio or CD’s is illegal)
• Will make you money and you can take that to the bank

Telephone on hold advertising is equivalent to adding a salesperson to your staff who works continuously, selling products and services to your customers waiting on hold.  Hiring another sales person would cost you a salary and benefits.  Total investment in a quality on hold message and music recording is minimal by comparison.

One way to increase sales is to increase your exposure through advertising, but effective advertising can be expensive and many times your return is a mystery.  The only sure thing is networking… advertising to a captive audience.

Consider this – 1 in 5 callers placed on hold take action based on a message they hear while waiting on hold (AT&T survey) and 1 in 5 converts to a 20 percent increase in revenues!

How many calls does your business receive and make on an average day?

Phone Traffic Analysis (Listed below is an example of a company receiving 50 calls per day):

Average number of calls per day (50)

Business days per month (22)

Total callers per month (1,100)

Amount of callers placed on hold (national average 70%)

Total callers placed on hold (770)

Time on hold (national average 30 seconds)

Total seconds on hold (23,100)

Divided by 3,600 seconds per hour = Total hours on hold (6.42)

Multiplied by 12 months per year (77)

77 hours of FREE advertising each year, and all to a captive audience.

Many H.V.A.C contractors are turning to telephone “on-hold” advertising as an effective, inexpensive way to market products and services to a captive audience. Listeners on the other end of the line will hear about spring cleaning-and-check specials, financing on a new air conditioning system, or air cleaners to help them with their allergies. —John R. Hall, “Commercials on hold are music to the ears of H.V.A.C.R. contractors,” Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News