What is the #1 thing people don’t want to hear on-hold?

- An out-of-tune radio.

What is the #1 thing business owners don’t want customers to hear on-hold?

- A radio advertisement for somebody else.

What is the biggest waste of space on a phone system?

- Silence, while your customers are listening for someone to help them.

What is the second biggest waste of space on a phone system?

- Music-on-hold with lots of distortion guitar (which sounds awful over the phone), and badly written scripts.

What is the most overused, oxymoronic phrase for messages on hold?

- “Your call is important to us.”

o While that may true, don’t remind the caller of it then fill their ear with bad music-on-hold. The best compliment we routinely get at www.holdtimestudios.com is, “Our customers ask to get put back on-hold!” I’m not kidding – read our testimonials!

What’s the most inappropriate music on hold selection we’ve heard?

- Mozart’s Requiem, for a life insurance company!

Honestly, folks…. You can do better with www.holdtimestudios.com. Please read our testimonials and see the music on hold can be fun, engaging, and present your company in a way that will

- callers on hold longer

- help your customers understand the scope and background of your business

- cross-sell products and services your customers are not aware of

- create an marketing impression where there was once was…silence!

If you’ve spent thousands on your phone system, you can be sure that callers are going to spend some time on-hold or transferred as they do business with you. Creating an efficient and professional experience is often more important than how your front lobby looks – 80% of business callers will be put on-hold in a given day! Roll out the red carpet for your callers by enhancing these three zones.

1. Zone 1 – Who (or what) is answering the phone? Receptionists and Auto Attendants. See our blog here.
2. Zone 2 – Dynamic marketing: music on hold, or messaging on hold. See our blog here.
3. Zone 3 – Directory and Voice Mail recordings
   1. Directory. Again, it’s important that the voiceover that’s on the Auto-attendant (Zone 1) and onhold messaging (Zone 2) is the same as the Directory recording. It’s sounds professional… a smooth transition to get the caller to their final extension. It doesn’t have to be dry. People appreciate a bit of warmth in the voice prompts, like this: “Here’s a list of extensions for everyone at www.elcon.com. This is a long list, so you may dial the extension as soon as you hear it!….. For John Smith, dial 111, etc….”
      
      

Voice Mail recordings. Most companies want the person that owns the voice mail to do their own recording. It’s personable, and it will be the last prompt your callers here.

Most effective are voice mail messages that are updated frequently with timely information. “You’ve reached the phone of Patrick Bolan with www.holdtimestudios.com. We’re in the studio right now working on Holiday productions… and so our ringing phones are turned off. We are very good at returning phone calls, however, so please leave a message and I’ll return your call promptly.” See? Isn’t that better than “I’m not available right now, so leave a message.” ?

Many businesses spend thousands of dollars to make their front office look nice, but the majority of their business is done over the phone. Fortunately, creating a smooth professional experience for callers using voiceovers and marketing on-hold is easy, and less expensive than the furniture in your lobby! Eliminiate dead space, and “harmonize” your phone system by focusing on these four zones:

1. Part 1 – Auto-Attendants, see our blog here.
   
   
2. Part 2 – Marketing on-hold.

If you’ve spent thousands of dollars to purchase a commercial-grade (PBX) phone system, then most of your callers will be put on-hold or transferred during their call. It’s time to deploy your marketing strategy, and tell them why they made the right call when they called you!

It’s important to use the same voice for the on-hold marketing and your auto-attendant, otherwise it sounds like you’ve switched phone systems and your call is heading overseas. Not professional.

We’ve already said quite a bit on the details of this production. You can read about it here:

Content, including website promotion, and services see our blog here.

Equipment, see our blog here.

Music styles, see our blog here.

This dynamic market music on hold channel will tell your customers all about your business for a fraction it would cost to create a print and broadcast medium advertisement, at least it’s less expensive if you use www.holdtimestudios.com. Your callers will also refrain from hanging up now that they have something interesting about YOU to listen to with messaging on hold.

This blog continues to Part 3 here, with a discussion about Directory and Voice Mail recordings.

Many businesses spend thousands of dollars to make their front office look nice, but the majority of their business is done over the phone. Fortunately, creating a smooth professional experience for callers is easy, and less expensive than the furniture in your lobby! Eliminiate dead space, and “harmonize” your phone system by focusing on these four zones:

1. Level 1 – Who or what is answering your callers?
   1. Live answering: We’ve all heard the grouchy, dismissive receptionist over the phone line – and if you’ve got one answering your phones: please! Move her off the front line and let the first impression your callers receive go to someone who sounds like they care! Bonus: A receptionist who is great at remembering names.
   2. Auto Attendant: If you must use an auto-attendant during business hours, use the same voice that’s also voicing your directory, and music on hold messaging.

i. A brief music leader at the beginning of the voice over is a nice touch, as Hold Time Studios does for www.postergarden.com.

ii. Keep it brief: “Thank you for calling Postergarden.com: Smart. Sturdy. Simple. Tradeshow displays. We’re glad you’ve called, and if you know the extension you’d like to reach, please dial it anytime. Otherwise, please remain on the line and one of our project managers will be with you in just a moment.” [transfer to on-hold queue]

1. You may consider highlighting a special (eg. 20% Tuesdays), but do it quickly.

Hear a lot of creative ideas right here:

http://www.holdtimestudios.com/marketing-ideas.php

In our next post, we’ll talk about Level 2, the marketing on-hold.