Muzak Customers Saving Thousands -  Quality Without Long-Term Contracts!

                     Typical Contract with Muzak.

 "We can save you over $1,000 at just a single location." It's almost mind-boggling to try to figure out how Muzak did it, but thousands of companies are paying high monthly fees and getting few on hold message updates. The Muzak method? Lock in the customer to a 3 or commonly a 5-year contract with ongoing monthly fees. And even worse, if you do not renew your contract with Muzak you have to send the equipment back! So you own nothing in the end for those high paid fees.

Right now if you have 6 months or less remaining on a Muzak contract, we’ll buy you out of it.*

With On Hold Inc there’s no long-term commitment. We provide a simple 12 month plan and  if we do a good job, you'll be back... and over 90% of On Hold, Inc  customers do. Oh by the way, if you choose not to renew your plan with our company you “keep” your player and productions. So make the switch to On Hold Inc and start saving thousands of dollars on your on hold message service.

*On Hold Inc is not obligated to this offer. The offer is valid solely at  the discretion of On Hold,Inc. The offer depends on current monthly fee paid to Muzak, duration of contract and certain other terms and conditions. We reserve the right to change the terms and conditions of this policy at any time. 12 Month service plan purchase required. Muzak is a registered trademark of Muzak, LLC  and On Hold, Inc makes no claims of any affiliation with Muzak,LLC.

In this post, we’ll discuss how to select voice talent for your on hold message. This is important to give your business a professional sound and image as well as a crucial aspect of your personal branding.

Consider the following:

1. Gender : The majority of all telephone system recordings are recorded by female voice talents, however, you may find that a male voice is more suited to your industry or organization, especially if you represent an industry traditionally associated with men.

2. Age : This refers to the age of the voice rather than the age of the voice actor. Some voice artists have a younger sounding voice than their age in years, others, for example, have a middle-aged sound even though they are only in their early twenties. What sound would reflect your customer base the best? Would a mature, sophisticated, informative style work best?

3. Style: Depending on what your company offers, you may want to consider matching the style of voice to your products and services. If your company is a health-care provider for example, would a warm, comforting voice be a more suitable style. Alternatively, if you're a Sports wear retailer, an upbeat, energetic voice would better reflect your company services.

4. Accent: Maybe you would like your phone system to have a more exotic sound. Many of our clients deliberately choose a British accent voice artist to bring a global feel to their recordings. It may also be worth considering employing a bi-lingual voiceover talent if your customer base has a large foreign language bias (English and Spanish for example). We’ve also had clients in which we provide an Australian voice, French and others.

Finally, the choice of male or female voice talent for your on hold messages can make a difference.  If your products and services are geared to women or women tend to be the majority of calls you receive, you may want to select a female voice - selecting a woman to speak to and on behalf of her peers.  If your business is traditional, old school or old money, you may find that a male voice commands the gentle authority you require.  Then again, you might want to consider our “dual voice” offering whereas the messages alternate in a male/female rotation. This is helpful in two cases, first if  you cater to both genders it makes sense to have dual voice, and secondly many clients opt for dual voice talent so that their callers “pay attention” as they are surprised to hear a different voice instead of the same one throughout their on hold or waiting period.

In a time where we’ve become all to accustom to economic problems and corporate collapses farther than anyone could have imagined. Customers are more skeptical than ever, and have lost trust with whom they do business with. You need to prove your marketing claims about your product or service, and re-build the value of what your brand has to offer. In other words, you’ve got to “show” them what’s in it for them. How? Welcome to the power of video! Video has now become one of the most reliable and cost-effective forms of marketing around, and is quickly becoming a commercial necessity. Organizations and companies (large and small) who are not using video in their marketing efforts will very soon find themselves behind the competition and playing catch up.

Google now incorporates video directly into its search results and websites that don't contain video are beginning to look positively archaic. As a result, businesses both large and small really need to embrace corporate video production. In the cluttered, information-overload world of the Internet your need the resources of a professional video/multimedia company. Why? Like TV commercials, a well-produced short video advert has a much better chance of being watched. You are trying to draw the attention of viewers to the screen to see if they are missing something important. The more interaction you can have in your video the longer the visitor will stay. Charts, graphs and relevant pictures can have positive results when the viewer relates to your video.

The days of long pages of static text being read are dead! People tend to believe what they can see and hear, far more than what they read. Video also has more of an emotional impact/connection with a viewer way beyond that of the written word. Online Video Marketing is here to stay. If you want to get more customers, increase conversion rates and increase your business it’s time to contact Virtual Media Group and consider adding video to your website such as a video website spokesperson, web infomercial/webmercial or corporate video.

Survey Results

USA Business Telephone Today conducted a survey to determine the effects of putting callers
"on-hold." The callers surveyed were routine callers seeking information from the USA Business
Telephone Today Center in Washington, D.C.

Methodology

A total of 30,000 callers were placed "on-hold" for one minute under various conditions; each call
was then answered with the same message,"Thank you for waiting. Would you mind telling me how long you had to wait "on-hold"?

"Dead Air", ie. silence (10,000 callers)                                                                        

52% of callers dropped off the line
27% estimated the "on-hold" time exceeded 5 minutes.
18% estimated the "on-hold" time exceeded 3 minutes.
3% estimated the "on-hold" time exceeded 1 minute.

 Music only (10,000 callers)                                                                                              

13% of callers dropped off the line
56% estimated the "on-hold" time was less than 1 minute.
28% estimated the "on-hold" time exceeded 1 minute.
3% estimated the "on-hold" time exceeded 2 minutes.

Customized On Hold Message Program, ie. interesting information interspersed with tasteful             
music segments (10,000 callers)

2% of the callers had dropped off the line.
81% estimated the "on-hold" time was less than 1 minute.
16% estimated the "on-hold" time exceeded 1 minute.
1% estimated the "on-hold" time exceeded 2 minutes.

 Extracted from "USA Business Telephone Today.”                                        

Caller abandonment (caller hang-ups/lost calls) costs businesses millions of dollars annually! The above study concluded that when using on hold messages vs silence or just music, callers perceived their hold-time to be less, the largest number of callers remained "waiting on the line",  and felt as if they had a better overall on hold experience.

On Hold Inc is a leader in the music on hold and on hold messaging industry offering a full range of custom on hold programming options and message on hold equipment. You can even have a risk free on hold demo customized for your company in just 3 days or less.

TopSEOS Names VIRTUAL MEDIA GROUP as a Leading Virtual Spokesperson Firm

VIRTUAL MEDIA GROUP is identified as a superior virtual spokesperson firm by TopSEOS.

VIRTUAL MEDIA GROUP has secured Top 10 ranking of the leading virtual spokesperson firms. The rankings list published by topseos is a guide to the cream of the crop internet marketing vendors in the industry.

VIRTUAL MEDIA GROUP is included in this list for its consistent performance and the outstanding services rendered to its clients.

Topseos compiles the monthly list of leading internet marketing firms after a rigorous evaluation criteria that includes:

o Competitive advantage
o Superior services and pricing
o Customer and technical support
o Response to client problems
o Innovations that set it apart from the competition
o Overall efficiency
o Overall performance

As part of the evaluation process, clients of VIRTUAL MEDIA GROUP are asked to give feedback on general and project specific questions such as:

o Rate your overall experience.
o What type of needs analysis was conducted before work initiated?
o How quickly was the shoot scheduled after a script was developed?
o What level of details did the agency go into with you on attire, tone, personality required of the virtual spokesperson before shooting?
o How open was the firm to modifications to the shoot after it was shot?

“The whole industry looks to us to identify reliable and accurate benchmarks and VIRTUAL MEDIA GROUP has proven by its performance that they deserve to be on this coveted list”, shared Jeev Trika, partner at topseos.

For more information about VIRTUAL MEDIA GROUP log on to http://virtualmediagroupusa.com/

If you are a business owner or manager and are currently playing music in your venues or considering implementing music on hold, you need to be aware that the music you use must be licensed, or it will be considered illegal use of copyrighted music. If caught, you could be facing steep fines or possible legal action. The music industry is coming down hard on businesses that are unaware of or disregard proper licensing of copyrighted music, as is evident by a recent series of crackdowns on over two dozen venues in Seattle who failed to pay royalties on music they were playing. (ASCAP) The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, says that these venues have been performing copyrighted music without permission. ASCAP is now actively going after local businesses that have not been paying to use copyrighted music. According to their web site any music that is played outside a direct circle of family and friends is considered a public performance; this includes restaurants playing background music or commonly known as in-store music, DJs and music on hold over phone lines.

Because of the rising number of lawsuits being filed by the music industry against those who continue to implement music illegally,  Music copyright laws are becoming increasingly more strict and complicated, and it is up to you to keep abreast of and act within these parameters. Pleading ignorance seems to be an unacceptable excuse with performance rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI. If you want to play music on hold or in-store and not run afoul of the law, it’s well worth contracting with a professional music on hold and busuness music provider for a nominal fee vs the amount you may be fined.

Fortunately, On Hold Inc can set-up music on hold and in-store music for your business at a relatively low cost. Additionally, we can also take music in your business one step further by adding audio marketing messages  aka on hold messages to your callers or patrons. Both music on hold and messages and in-store music and messages have proven to be extremely useful in educating customers and prospects about higher margin products and services, influcen their buying decision and provide a better overall customer expereince.

Has your website suddenly lost a lot of traffic? Or did it never attract much traffic to begin with? If the answer to the above two questions is a "yes", then it is more than a probability that your website is too dull and unappealing. A video spokesperson could change all that!

Cater to the changing taste of your customers.

Times have changed and as a society we are use to getting the information we want quickly. If you are thinking that banner ads or having what you think is cool looking flash on your website will do it for you, then you must know that now a days people don't even notice banner ads, and usually skip right past your tricked out little flash. Why?  Because they want their information now, on-demand and aren’t willing to wait! They will be gone and off to a competitor’s website in less than 8 seconds.

Video spokesperson can increase sales and take your branding endeavors to the next level.

If you want to capture the interest of your potential customer, and get them to remain on your site then you have to go the extra mile. That is what makes a video marketing such an outstanding idea. A Video website spokesperson (or Virtual Website Spokesperson) works in two ways; the main goal is often to sell something straight away, but there is also the branding effect as well. If you get the branding right then it will mean that people will remember you and return when they have a need for your product or service. At the moment a video spokesperson is almost everywhere on the web; and the reason for that is, it works.

Using a video spokesperson will give you a few minutes window to tell the visitor what you want them to do, and more importantly, how your products and services are a perfect fit for them. You can do a lot to capture a visitor's imagination if you have a few minutes to talk to them personally through a video. See a live video spokesperon demo on your website right now, or Browse through some of our video spokesperson examples to see how other companies are benefiting from this innovative on-line marekting tool.

Virtual Media Group is a leader in video spokesperson technology and is ranked by topseos as one of the top ten virtual spokesperson company's. 

It is inevitable that at one time or another, you have no alternative but to put your client on hold; however, make this your opportunity to demonstrate to them how professional your company is. This may be the only opportunity you have to do business with them so you can't afford to get their on hold experience wrong. It is worth investing a little bit of time to get this right.

The on hold message needs to engage the caller, to defuse potential frustration. Make this an opportunity to educate and create a good impression of your company and products.

The Script:

First and foremost, tell the caller where they are and thank them for calling. "Thank you for calling [Company Name], please hold, an advisor will be with you shortly" is a good start. Don't bombard them with all of your information at once, the on hold script needs to be segmented and concise. Shorter paragraphs spread out over your chosen music will be received better and is more effective in smaller chunks. After the initial greeting, make the first three on hold segments the most salient. These should be points that the caller will be interested in and ensure that they stay on the line. For example, if your company is holding an annual event, has a special offer, a free magazine etc. make sure that this information is communicated in the few first messages.

You may say something like...

"Stay on the line and request your free magazine when you are connected"

OR

"Stay on the line and get your 15% discount code when you are connected"

Always try to tell them about things that may be of interest to them. Give them an incentive to stay on hold. Telling your caller that you offer a 15% discount at the weekends is much more helpful to them than continuously thanking them for holding. Build confidence in your brand and provide your caller with good information.

Here are a few ideas for this:

• Has you or your company won any awards?
• Do you / your company hold any relevant qualifications?
• What charitable foundation do you support?
• Do you attend / exhibit at any industry trade events?
• Do you have a useful blog or article archive?
• Have you taken steps to be “green” that is not being done by your competitors? 

Patience is a virtue, but not to the caller on hold. 

With many cutbacks in staff and personnel, callers are being forced to have prolonged wait or hold times.  In order to prevent caller abandonment (caller hang-ups/lost calls), it is always a good idea to thank the caller for remaining on the line and reassure them that their call is important and that you or your staff will be back to cater to their needs as quickly as possible.

So you should say something like, "Thank you for continuing to hold, your patience is appreciated" or  "Thank you for your patience, please continue to hold and we will be with you shortly”.

On Hold Message Content Changes.

Like anything else no matter how well your on hold message script is written, if the content is heard by the same people over and over and  no longer resonating with your callers that it’s no longer a good on hold message script. They key to successful on hold messaging is to update the message content frequently. 

On Hold Inc offers several on hold service pricing options and MVP (Messaging Value Packages) that allow you to quickly and easily freshen up message content for promotional offers, sale items, seasonal products/services, trade shows, etc. This will give your callers the impression that you care about their on hold experience, not to mention the potential for generating revenues by keeping callers informed. Let our staff go to work for you and create  a custom on hold message script and production for you to audition and evaluate in three days or less using our risk-free on hold demo trial offer.

Because video has become the new darling of search engines, many startups are rushing to create and post video on their websites. Just run a Google or Bing search on any topic, and links to video clips pop up right on page one. The reason for this is that search engines are tripping over themselves to provide blended search results¬--links to news, blog posts, photos, video and other specialized content all mixed together. To ensure video is included in the results, search engines give them preferential treatment. This trend presents startups that are able to produce quality video content with tremendous search engine optimization (SEO) opportunities. In fact, Forrester Research reports that compared with standard SEO techniques, a properly submitted video is 50 times more likely to achieve a first-page Google ranking. And because video is in such short supply, relative to other web-based content, the competition for search engine attention is less fierce.

Over the next two years, websites will start to resemble television commercials with video and multimedia. Advertisers spend billions of dollars each year on TV ads because they know what works. They know they have 3-5 seconds to grab your attention, and they aren't doing that with text! This is the future of the web, and your website home page is no different than a television commercial. With video, you have a chance to grab your perspective customer’s attention fast and in a unique way!

Like anything else, image is everything! The do-it-yourselfer videos will be ignored by viewers, nor will they be SEO friendly. Virtual Media Group is a full service multimedia production company specializing in producing rich media, web video productions including our video website spokesperson and high impact web infomercials.

Numerous studies have been conducted about the affects of music on hold in the business environment. Mood states are a particularly important set of affective factors, they form a part of all marketing situations and can influence consumer behavior in many contexts.

Analysis have shown that  there are three vital areas in which mood effects and states can be influenced by marketing tactics.

1. Increases on-hold waiting times (callers will wait on hold longer).
2. Stimulate purchasing decisions.
3. Sooth an angry customer.

Music communicates with our hearts and minds; it serves as a powerful connection into our emotions. Music is versatile, it has the ability to relax or invigorate. Music is memorable, it can transport us in an instant to places we want to be.  Music can be a critical component of atmosphere and plays a role in purchase decision making process.  Music creates an audio environment where customers feel comfortable, relaxed and happy to spend time and money. The use of carefully selected music creates an immediate distinction for a retail brand by establishing the right mood. Music on hold can motivate the subconscious and create a first and lasting impression.

In business music on hold can set the mood. What do your callers hear when they are placed on hold at your company? Are you doing your part to influence a positive customer experience? Listen to some of our client's music on hold demos to see what they've done for their business.

Contact On Hold Inc  at 1-866-88-ON-HOLD or visit www.onholdinc.com and learn more about our custom music on hold and message services to help transform and influence your callers experience by setting the right mood.