clearonhold articles
Whether you plan for it or not, your On Hold Messaging is always On Hold Marketing, because it sends a message about who you are as a company. What do customers think when they hear silence, or cheesy muzak? Whatever they think, they think that about you. So take control of the image you are already sending, and use your messaging to sell something.
Music is the original placeholder of the On Hold world: even the clunkiest old phone systems have some kind of music built-in. By itself it’s just that – a placeholder. It doesn’t accomplish much, but it means your callers aren’t sitting in silence. That might give you the idea that the messages laid over the music are more important – but here you’d be mistaken, because the messages don’t work so great by themselves either.
You need the whole package to succeed, and here’s why:
On hold messaging can do so much more for you when it’s part of a broader marketing strategy – in fact, it provides you with a foundation that you can use to build your marketing. If you run a small business, you usually don’t have a huge marketing team, and you can’t hire consultants – so use your on hold messaging as the place to start!
So you’ve just been told you’re in charge of handling your company’s on-hold messaging…
…but you’ve never really been trained in writing ad copy.
“That’s okay”, you say, “I can write, and if you can write, you can write… right?”
Well . . . if your goal is just to get a job done and check it off the box, then sure . . . you can just write up some cheesy stuff that sounds like every other on-hold message you’ve ever heard, get it produced, and let it ride! You callers will continue to hate being on hold, they won’t learn a thing about your company, and they’ll probably be more irritated when they get to the phone . . . but at least you will have it off your list, right?
It seems like no one actually talks about telephones anymore, but we’ve come a long way from Alexander Graham Bell shouting “Ahoy!” into a copper-and-resin tube. We don’t talk about them because telephones are as ubiquitous as indoor plumbing. It’d surprise you if a business didn’t have it, and you assume every place does.
Think for a minute about where you do most of your consuming. When you have a cup of coffee in your hands, is it Starbucks, Dunkin, or a local shop? You’re getting new boots and a jacket to go to the jobsite – what name springs to mind, Dickies, Carhart, or something else? Coke or Pepsi? Be honest with yourself, you drink one or the other – unless you drink RC, in which case you probably aren’t drinking the other two. Every brand you choose in this little experiment has succeeded in becoming your brand. You, as the consumer, identify with the brand, even though what got you there was the product. That fact played a major role in almost destroying Coca-cola, by the way.
On paper, running a business sounds so easy. People want a product or service, so you provide it! You run a business, so you know that reality doesn’t make it quite so simple. There’s no such thing as a service or product that “sells itself”: your customers need you to tell them why they need your service, even if it’s something as obvious as healthcare.
Believe us when we say writing copy presents challenges – sometimes it feels impossible; copywriters frequently find themselves tempted to reach into our bag of old clichés and placeholder phrases and cobble a passable message together. Resist that temptation! Lazy advertisingclear makes for fewer sales because it relies too much on your customers to motivate themselves. Your On Hold Messaging should motivate them! Here’s some tips on turning those complete wastes of time into messaging that actually benefits your business!
In a lot of ways, Building Supplies sell themselves – a fundamental need drives sales. You either get the lumber, or the house doesn’t get built; get the pipes, or no toilets and sinks. Marketing for these products can be deceptively easy, because in most cases the very fact that someone is walking through your door means they’re going to walk out with at least a basic product. At the same time, very few building suppliers deal solely in pipes and 2x4’s, and since it can be anywhere between 5 and 25 times less expensive to sell to a returning customer than a new one, cross-selling all that other stuff you carry can be the key to your success.
1. Speak Directly to Your Audience
When you write an on hold message, you’re speaking with just one person—the customer you have on hold. Don’t waste your time talking over his head to an imaginary crowd! Address him directly—phrases like “you already know”, “your needs”, “you, our customer” all make sure the caller feels (even subconsciously) like the message was written just for him.
Even if you haven’t been in business long, you know there’s more to success than just making and selling products – who you are to your customers matters—that is, your brand matters. It matters most of all because no one brings in revenue to your business like repeat callers and repeat customers, and they are exposed to your brand more than anyone.
On-Hold Messaging can help you increase sales, make customers happier, and help people take better care of their pets! Here’s how…
The motivation to avoid silence on hold is pretty plain and straightforward – silence makes hold times seem unbearably long, it makes callers feel forgotten, and it hurts the professional image of your business. Using your on hold messages as a way to avoid silence is definitely a step forward – but how many businesses are using it as a customer service tool and a way to boost sales?
Is your on hold messaging ready for the holidays? Learn our top five strategies for creating a winning holiday on hold marketing campaign.
Discover five common misconceptions of on hold marketing and how they might be holding you back from adding value to hold time.
Adding a little humor to your on hold messaging can help lighten your caller’s mood and make a lasting impression. Discover three easy ways to turn hold time into laugh-worthy messages.
You don’t have to be a great writer to create a powerful on hold message. Use our four-step process to write an effective on hold message your callers will want to hear.
Not all on hold music is created equal, and it most certainly matters which music you choose to represent your brand. Find out why many companies get hold music wrong and how to use it to your advantage.
How can veterinary practices create a profitable on hold marketing strategy? These five ideas can help you increase revenue and build strong relationships with your clients.
Do veterinary practices need to update their on hold messages? In a word, yes. Discover the benefits of keeping your vet practice’s on hold messages fresh.
Your phone is a beating heart to your business, so don’t botch it with bad call procedures. Falling prey to these 4 telephone blunders can deal heavy damage your company image and shrink your bottom line
Word of mouth proves time after time to be some of the most effective advertising available, and it’s one that you have more control over than you might think. You simply need to “invest” in it.
Over the past several years I've developed quite a penchant for crafting supplies. Now I say supplies, rather than the actual art of crafting, because I don't have enough finished masterpieces to justify the copious amounts of paper, glue, paint, fabric, letters, scraps, frames and albums that litter my art room.
An elephant and a zebra stand by side in the same field eating the same type of grass: which one has more of a competitive advantage?
What are you GREAT at?
Not “what are you are capable of”? Not “what are you trained to do”? And certainly not “what are you experienced in”?
I just want to know, what are you GREAT at?
I ask that, because it is only the people who do what they are GREAT at who change the world.
Let’s take a brief look at three people we’re all familiar with
As you begin to craft your on-hold marketing campaign, consider the following points of interest to use music to your advantage:
The notion of asking the right questions is so common to good business advice that it’s practically become a cliché. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it, though: after all, figuring out which questions are the right questions can be its own project. In business, if you want to unlock the secret to questioning correctly, look at your customers, and think from their perspective.