When people call your company, you have their unwavering attention. Their minds are open to any messages you tell them because they want to do business with you. They didn’t call because they just want to have a chat, otherwise they would have called their friends. But, no. They called because they want to do business with you. Customers call because they want your brand to fill a need to solve a problem. How well your business work around these situations can make or break your brand.

Let me tell you this. Have you tried doing spy calls? Those types of calls where you pretend to be a prospective customer to a certain competitor? You might be surprised at how customer representatives entertain calls and handle customer queries. Some of them even have food in their mouths while answering the phone. Other agents, of course, sound enthusiastic and happy helping you with your requests and needs. However, there are others who sound bored like they’ve got better things to do.

Now, agents are not the worst part. How some customer representatives handle the call, I’m sure you can handle. But, what’s quite unforgiveable is the fact that they have a radio station playing as their music on-hold but running a commercial about the competing company? (…this makes absolutely no sense what so ever? In fact, its taboo in business!!)

That said, you need to make sure that you’re on-hold marketing includes important information such as updates from the company, latest offers, even frequently asked questions by callers – anything that would persuade callers to put an order.Remember that they have called because they’re interested.  When you don’t pay attention to them, they can simply hang-up and call other companies who’d be more willing to make them happy.

On hold messages are created to make the customer’s on hold time worthwhile. It should be a wonderful experience. Of course, nobody wants to be put on hold; remember even the most patient caller can still get annoyed with unprofessional on-hold messages. But, if truth be told, nobody likes to be put on hold and hear nothing, or worse, listen to a poorly tuned radio station.

Pay attention to your on-hold message script and make sure that your message is worth listening. Some owners are too busy running their business that at some point, they fail to consider how customers and prospects perceive the brand. Always think about your customers and how to make them happy. After all, without them there is no business!

Still having doubts about the merits of messages on-hold? Look at the comments being written an online Cruise Review website about caller on-hold experiences. Then face the facts: today’s economy isn’t what it used to be. This alone makes it all the more important for your company to seize each sales opportunity that comes your way. Through a well thought out custom on hold messages, you can do just that, by informing clients regarding your current offers and creating a positive customer experience. In fact, recent caller on hold statics show up to a staggering "60% potential in lost revenues due to caller hang-ups."

It bears no saying that every reliable company should have a customer service support number, a help line, or otherwise an emergency phone number that customers can dial for their questions, inquiries, and problems. One thing you’ll notice right away if you’ve ever tried calling most customer service help lines all of them provide voice recordings and music on hold.

One sure way to avoid customer support disasters and show customers that you care is by using messages on hold and other related services. This is especially true for companies that have customer service help desks, since music and recordings provide an effective means of easing your customers’ irritation. It only takes minutes to set up the proper  on-hold equipment which is extremely  beneficial for overall customer service and caller satisfaction! 

Music On hold has always formed an integral part of support services, since it keeps your customers pleasantly occupied as they wait for a live customer support representative to take their call. Anyone who has ever been put on hold knows how annoying it is to be kept waiting on the line for several minutes hearing nothing but a constant series of beeps on the other end. You may not realize it, but this experience ultimately creates a negative impression on your customers, leading them to think that you do not actually value them and their time enough.

Make no mistake, operating a business or a company isn’t a walk in the park. If you’re running low on funds, you might think that getting message on hold services, might be an unnecessary expense. However, these services are well worth the investment since they do more than entertain your clients while on the phone. They actually have a significant influence on marketing and advertising.  Ultimately, with an on hold message, you will be able to brand your business as one of the most reliable and experience in your industry.

When setting up a phone system, getting best messages on-hold services should be your top priority. You should also consider Professional Automated Attendant greetings,  another key ingredient to enhancing the professionalism of your business and improving your branding and marketing.

Different types of customers call you every day. When they’re put on-hold, some prefer to listen to some music, while others prefer to hear messages, and only a very few of them would rather hear silence. Tough luck, right?

Today, let’s hear some customer stories, found on Twitter for the best and worst comments that callers tweeted regarding their on-hold experiences. Grab your notes, and let the tweet searching begin.

First tweet we found was an interesting one from @krimsondclover. She said, “On-hold with Disney. They’re playing Disney-themed music! Can I be put on-hold for a little longer? :D #disneyfan.”

Nothing’s more enjoyable for a customer than to listen to on-hold music that’s fun and suits your brand. Therefore, you need to make sure that the background music that’s playing while they’re waiting on the other line represents your products and services. One of the goals of music on-hold is to prevent customers from getting bored and hanging-up. On-hold music reduces the feeling of waiting, reducing the chances of hearing complaints from waiting customers.

Another thing to remember if you opt to use music on-hold is the sound level of the background music. We saw a tweet from @loveanDaffodils complaining about the blasting music after hearing the soft-toned voice prompt. She said, “#thatminiheartattack when you’re being put on-hold and the music playing after the voice prompt is a few decibels too loud. What’s wrong with you people?!!!!” Don’t forget to check the sound levels of your music on hold & player from time to time as you don’t want to put-off callers with your deafening music.

Choosing the right song for your music on-hold also plays an important part in pleasing callers. @vampireMar tweeted, “#nowplaying 80’s music. Don’t mind being put on-hold.” However, we saw another tweet grumbling about the on-hold music from the same company. @pepper_mel said, “Bored to death. #onhold for 30 minutes, and they’re playing whats-this-music? I’d rather listen to Taylor Swift on-loop than this playlist. *tears*”

The enduring problem faced by probably most companies that program their music can be seen from the tweets above. While the first tweet praises the music-on hold, the latter prefers to listen to a more recent song. The 80’s music might not exactly put-off callers, but if there is a pending need to talk to their representative, then the caller must really wait until the hold is over.

In the end, the right music on-hold can be a part of a great customer experience. It definitely put a smile on our face when we saw @pen80’s tweet, “Being put on-hold and for the first time I wasn’t pissed off. #listeningto #Friends theme song.” Quirky choices of music, such as the ‘Friends’ theme song mentioned above might help lift the mood of a customer faced with time on hold.

Since it’s difficult to please everybody, the wisest choice for the songs to be played  for your hold music should be professional on hold messaging that will give you better branding, and can establish a good all-around operation. Updating your music on-hold and making sure that they’re recorded professionally are just few of the many things that you can do to make sure that callers will have a satisfying experience while waiting for you on the other line.

Choose the one that best suits your brand, and hopefully, we can see positive tweets from happy and delightful customers the next time we do Twitter searching.