Can an On Hold Message Improve Business?
Most business owners who are interested and motivated in running their business look for ways and means to improve the business productivity and that means improving customer relations. One way to do this is by having the right on hold messages for when customers phone and have to be kept on hold.
Statistics show that without anything to listen to, customers who have to wait on the phone will hang up within about 30 seconds. But if they have an on hold message and music to listen to they will often wait for up to three minutes. The benefits are immediately apparent as your staff will have many more customers to talk to if they do not hang up so soon. More customers mean more business.
There are certain other benefits when you have the right on hold messages for your customers to listen to.
· It not only keeps the customers on the phone for longer, it puts them in a better mood so that they are easier to deal with.
· You can use the messages to impart important information about products that the customers may find useful.
· You can brand your company with the right kind of messages.
· You can reassure the customer that they are important to you as a business.
· You can inform them about other goods or services they or their friends may need.
· It presents your business in a professional light. Most customers are now used to on hold messages and if there are none they feel like the business is disorganised or unprofessional.
It is true that communication is extremely important in customer relations. When you communicate clearly and effectively it makes the customer feel valued both as a person and as a customer. They will therefore be far more likely to deal with you again and to recommend you to their friends. Having hold music and messages is a time-honoured way to ensure that is what happens to your customers.
