Silence to customers on hold can result in negative impressions towards your organization. If callers hear silence, it leads them to thinking they are no longer connected and they abandon (34% of callers that hang up never call back). There are times when customers must hold due to a large volume of incoming calls, as in a call center. Other times it may be necessary to ask the customer to hold while you look up their request. Why not use this time to promote your business to these customers. Perhaps upsell or cross sell, talk about new products or promotions, key features about your products that may be different from your competitor.

At the very least you can play music. Before you tap into the local radio station or play CD’s you need to check if there are royalty fees owed. Not all of this music is free especially when used for business purposes. Check on line for royalty free music. You may have to pay a one time free to get one or two CD’s, but you won’t have to pay ongoing licensing fees every time the song is played. Check out Premium Beat.

Here are some interesting statistics (source: OHMA.org) regarding caller preferences and tolerance while on hold.

* “Executives spend 15 minutes a day or 68 hours a year on hold.” – USA Today
* “41% of American consumers have initiated a purchase over the phone in the last year.” – American Teleservices Association
* “On average, seven out of ten callers are placed on hold.”- Inbound/Outbound
* “94% of all marketing budgets are spent on inducing a customer to call, while only 6% is spent on handling the call once it is received.” – Inbound Telephone Call Center
* Jefferson Denneandrus, a research firm, found when callers were presented with On Hold Messaging versus silence or a radio commercial they would stay on hold longer, they were more likely to exhibit interest in the product advertised, they were more likely to retain information, and they were less agitated.
* Survey results found that 88% of callers preferred On Hold Messages to other hold options, and 16% made purchases based on an on hold offer. – MaxiMarketing
* Callers stay on the line up to 25% longer when provided with On Hold Messaging versus “dead air” or “background music,” and up to 17% longer than radio. – Infomax, Inc.
* “The average person will spend 1.2 years on hold.” – Woman’s World Magazine
* “34% of callers who hang up will not call back.” – Voice Response, Inc.

Don’t waste this valuable time. Use it to promote your products and keep your prospects and customers happy.

Linda Hogan, managing partner of PTel Inc. has been in the call center industry since 1993. PTel Inc. provides a variety of products for managing call centers. PTel’s call center knowledge and Centrex expertise is a valuable resource for many organizations. For more information about the company and products, visit CallCenterStore or email linda@ptelinc.com

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