8 Reasons to use On Hold Messages

8 Reasons to use On Hold Messages

It is more important than ever to create a point of difference in your customer service. Customers no longer accept the generic and dull offerings of traditional businesses and instead expect you to go above and beyond for their needs. As advocates for prioritizing the customer experience, we often focus on what an on hold messages system can do for your callers- entertain them, allow them to engage with content, and disrupt the norm. But what about what on hold messaging can quantifiably do for your business?

Compiled is a list of 7 reasons to invest in an on hold system for your business for 2022 (with some customer engagement benefits scattered throughout!).

1. Stop Missed Opportunities for Contact with your Customer

Some facts to ponder.

  • 60% of business callers placed on-hold without messages or music abandon their calls within the first 40 seconds, and over 30% of these callers won’t call back.
  • Callers stay on the line up to 25% longer when provided with on hold messaging versus “dead air” or “elevator music”.
  • Callers hearing information on hold stay on the line up to 3.5 minutes longer than those who only hear music.
  • Customers left on-hold without any background music felt that a 30-second on-hold call actually lasted 90 seconds. Furthermore, customers thought a 30-second on-hold call that used messaging lasted only 15 seconds.

These statistics show the quantitative value of well thought out messages on hold as opposed to traditional hold options. Engagement with the customer is oftentimes lost during on hold periods as they become bored by stale music and a lack of care, hanging up before even talking to an agent. Oftentimes exceeding five minutes, lengthy on hold periods are a risk for businesses.  Keep your customers engaged from the very second that they call your business.

2. Initiate Sales & Encourage Upsells

Messages on hold are able to be harnessed to promote new or lesser-known products and services that your business offers. Research finds that when companies played information on hold, inquiries increased by as much as 15%, and requests for services increased by as much as 12%. Whether this is used to initiate a first time sale or to upsell features not previously known by the caller, the possibilities of messages on hold are endless.

3. Promote Seasonal Events and Services

Messages on Hold are an excellent way to keep customers informed of current events, promotions, or business hours. Update your messages regularly throughout the year to incorporate seasonal news, services, and goings-on. With the Captivate Connect on hold solutions, messages on hold can be changed as frequently as you like, uploaded remotely and played alongside regular messages on hold.

Public holiday trading hours, Holiday season closures, or welcoming your customers into the new year keeps them informed while adding value to the customer experience. Weekly content such as ‘what’s on in your city’ is also a way to engage customers, spark conversations, and ensure that your on hold messaging stays fresh.

4. Guide Customers Through the Consideration Process

Have you heard of the marketing funnel? It goes as follows; Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Intent, Evaluation, Purchase. Your audience does not just see one advertisement for a brand and instantaneously become loyal customers (as much as that would be nice!). Entering at the top of the funnel, the first interaction a customer has with your brand starts at the awareness phase. Your brand is bought into their periphery and they begin to form their opinions. When a customer is in the middle of the funnel, they are likely utilizing materials such as website content, news articles, and customer reviews in order to weigh up the pros and cons that an investment in your product or service would have. And of course, the bottom of the funnel consists of the time between having full knowledge of the purchase decision about to be made, and the transaction being completed.

On-Hold optimization allows for businesses to establish brand trust and loyalty, whether this is through impeccable customer service, ease of communication with the brand, or simply the customer feeling as though their time is valued. Messages on hold allow for customers to be gently guided through this funnel by easing their worries, promising continued high-quality service, and providing solutions to problems. The on hold space is an excellent space to add value to your service.

5. Reduce Wait Times, Shorten Call Times, and Minimize Strain on Staff

Zendesk’s 2020 CX trend report finds that 68% of callers are annoyed when their calls are transferred between departments. With an Auto-Attendant solution, callers can self-select the department that they would like to speak to, reducing the risk of being bounced around to multiple people in search of answers. Not only does this reduce the time spent on hold for each customer, it ensures that call times are kept to a minimum so that each service agent can maximize their efficiency between customers.

6. Drive Website Traffic

Although nobody would like to admit it, wait times are often necessary in order to provide each individual customer with personalized and comprehensive service from an agent. A way to provide value to your waiting customers at this time is to give them the simple option to visit your website for further information. In visiting your website, customers are exposed to a wider range of information relating to your business, allowing them to self-educate before talking to an agent. In addition to this, customers directly searching for your site improves search engine rankings and optimization. The more touchpoints your customer engages with, the more likely they are to develop a comprehensive impression of your brand.

7. Reinforce Branding & Business Positioning

Whilst Captivate Connect is all about disrupting the traditionally boring, repetitive, and done before on hold shtick, it is still just as important to reinforce your brand’s messaging and positioning on your voice channel. However, rather than playing the same elevator music jingle, create balance by interspersing your brand’s slogan with the current news headlines, commercial music, or seasonal messages. Position your brand in prime time with a choice of daily content items such as weather or finance news. Choice of voice artists can position a brand in a different way to target different people. For example; a company selling children’s clothing would perhaps have a more upbeat, child-friendly, and casual tone, whereas messages on hold for a law firm is more likely to sound more serious, corporate, and professional. With a selection of over 40 voice-over artists, and special requests available upon demand, find the voice of your business with Captivate Connect.

High-quality audio production helps to bring credibility to your brand. Often the first direct interaction a customer would have with the business, it is important to optimize the voice channel to best represent and position the brand correctly within the customer’s mind. Quality first impressions matter and provide the foundation for continued customer trust and loyalty.

8. Cross Selling

Helps sell products and services the customer did not know you offered. 80 Percent of new business should come from 100 percent of your existing client base.   On Hold messaging is the perfect place to educate on new or existing products current customers can use.  Often we hear clients did not know the company carried other products they have been buying other places for years.   Most times customers call in to tell you want they want.  The messaging gives the company the perfect opportunity to tell the customer all they have to offer.