May, 11 2010
Businesses spend billions of dollars every year to make their phones ring and then put their potential new customers on "ignore." When the phones start jangling away, they say “please hold” and mash down the hold button sending callers into on hold eternity. Most of the time the caller sits there listening to nothing but silence, growing angrier and angrier as the seconds tick by. Then they hang up. The result? Advertising dollars flushed down the toilet. In fact, 70% of all calls are placed on hold, of which 50% will hang up in less than 20 seconds when waiting in silence and 34% will never call back.
The average length of time a caller is on hold at a business in the United States is forty-three seconds. But it seems much, much longer when there is only silence.
This forty-three second period allows the business to provide the caller with timely information about products and services. Studies prove that callers presented with On Hold Messages versus silence or radio commercials are more likely exhibit interest in the product advertised, more likely to retain information and be less agitated. In addition, callers hearing customized on hold messages stay on the line for up to three times longer – giving you the opportunity to serve them!
Some businesses claim they never put callers on hold but if they check the blinking lights on their phones they will see they put them on hold more often than they think. Just one customer on hold per half hour, which is very light, equates to 4,165 customers on hold in a year.
Many of the nation’s top companies use customized music on hold & messages. And why do you think they do that? Because they know that on hold messages ensure the quality and consistency of their brand and marketing. Successful businesses know that at all times they want to project the best image possible.
There is a better way to do on hold in your business. A few dollars a day for a professional music on hold & message system is really a small price to pay for an electronic employee that greets callers with a friendly voice, entertains and informs callers, enhances your customer service and more importantly keeps callers from hanging up and losing their business. Music On Hold & Messages for your business is a help, not hype.