Throughout the course of a typical business day, it is unavoidable that callers will be placed telephone on-hold, and if your callers hear nothing but silence, they may not hold for very long. Sometimes they may hear a click on the line and think they’ve been disconnected. (We’ve all been there before!) If you have the radio playing, your callers may be telephone on-hold listening to commercials and DJ chatter… or static..or worse your competition!
A customized recording with promotions about your business eliminates silence and gives you control over what your callers are listening to. It is a great way to enhance your company’s image and ultimately increase sales. Plus, you can update the recording periodically with new promotions for maximum effectiveness.
Typical on-hold recordings are anywhere from 4 minutes in length, with 7 “messages” or paragraphs. The recording plays on a continuous loop, so there’s no beginning or end, and the caller will hear whatever part is playing at the moment he/she is placed on hold. There is always music in the background.
Your callers should not be on-hold for the entire recording, but even if they’re on-hold for 2 or 3 minutes, they won’t hear the same message twice.
On-hold messaging is most effective when the recordings are updated on a consistent basis. Businesses that play the same on-hold recording for months or even years at a time are missing out – and even risk annoying their customers. After you receive your first recording, you may soon realize that you have some new services or products that you would like to add to the messages, or seasonal promotions. It’s always a good idea to change the background music, so that your callers have something fresh and new to listen to.
How often a business should update its recordings depends on the particular needs of that business. Some businesses would do just fine with 2 recordings a year, while others may need a new recording each month. This may be one marketing tool you can’t to put “on-hold!”