All too often companies underestimate the power of their telephone system.

 

However, with an average of 20% of a caller’s time on the phone being spent on-hold or in-queue, it’s clear that the last thing you want to do is waste that valuable customer interaction with silence, or dull clichés.

 

We believe that in-queue and on-hold audio is about much more than just making a good impression. When used well it can be an incredibly effective marketing tool which can add significant benefits such as improving business efficiency, and enabling greater visibility of your products and services.

 

Ensuring Maximum Impact

 

So how do you use on-hold time more effectively? What’s going to add the greatest benefit to your business, and your customers?

 

First of all, it’s important to review what you currently have in place. Does your voice artist accurately represent your brand? Does the tone and language match other customer contact points? If your website uses a lot of modern terminology and conversational language, does your on-hold audio match? All these things should be consistent, so that when a customer decides to pick up the phone, they immediately recognise your brand and who you are as a business.

 

Next you need to decide what you want to achieve. In-queue and on-hold audio provides the perfect opportunity to boost sales, provide additional information, and build your brand! You have a captive audience, and while they might switch off, or do something else while they’re waiting, they’ll certainly be listening for their call to be picked up. And if you create an engaging experience they’ll be sure to listen more closely.

 

So put your biggest offers at the start, when your callers are most keen. But be careful; the way you word your messages plays a huge part in their success. Too pushy and you could lose your caller – not enough benefit, and their interest is lost.

 

The right script can build your brand, which is why Equity Studio already has 10,000+ professionally scripted messages that can be filtered by industry and message type, and then implemented instantly.

 

Finally, put yourself in your callers’ shoes – listen to your on-hold experience and make sure it’s relevant, and helps improve the overall experience. If you notice that something is too repetitive, adds no value for your customer, or isn’t explained well, these are the focus areas that you should work on changing first.

 

Equity Studio is an intuitive new service which allows you to order prompts for IVR menus, as well as music and marketing messages to play callers while in-queue or on-hold. It’s configured with our simple-to-use web portal!

For more information, you can read our Equity Studio page. If you’d like to book a free demo of the Studio and how it works, please fill out this form!