The holiday season is a busy one. Talk about an understatement, right? Chances are you’re already feeling the added pressure of tending to a higher volume of customers than normal. This is also most likely the case with your call volume. A natural occurrence for this time of year, customers are clawing for information about their choice products for holiday gifts. As a business owner, you need to do all you can to satisfy them.
So let’s be honest. Your staff may not be able to tend to every single call that comes the way of your company immediately. In many cases, these callers may have to be placed on hold. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. People get placed on hold all the time. But did you know that placing your callers on hold can have great benefits? It’s important to use your hold time to your advantage. Here are five ways to do just that.
1. Captivate your audience. Hold music is awesome. It is proven to keep callers on the line a lot longer. Primarily, it informs people who are on hold that they have not been disconnected. Dead silence is often a guaranteed way to secure a hang up. Instead, offer your caller something to listen to that won’t inspire a disconnection. Of course, you don’t only have to use music to captivate your audience. There are other great options for hold times.
2. Promote new products. While hold music serves a great purpose, you may also want to take hold time as an opportunity to promote your new products and services. Record a special greeting that advertises some of the new and exciting things that your business has to offer. Obviously, music can still be incorporated. Make it so that the caller is encouraged to ask about your new deals when the live representative returns to the line.
3. Promote special discounts. Many of your callers will already be familiar with some of the products and services that you offer. Perhaps, you can offer a special discount on your most popular (or not-so-popular) items to the person who is on hold. In fact, if you offer such an incentive, it may help for your callers to enjoy the holding process. Providing a benefit to holding such as this is bound to increase your call volume as well.
4. Reinforce your ad campaigns. Perhaps your callers are ringing you up because you’ve been advertising your products and services on the radio or on television. If you’ve created such ads, it may be wise to have them running during your callers’ hold times. This way, you are reinforcing your latest promotions. You can use your hold message to direct callers to your website or encourage them to ask about your specials once the live representative returns to the line.
5. Encourage loyalty. Customers appreciate being appreciated. Your hold time message should offer thanks to the person holding. Let your callers know that you not only appreciate their patience, but that you appreciate their support of your brand. Communicate how much it means to you that they have called you and don’t forget to wish them the warmest of holiday wishes during the next several weeks!
As you’re likely aware, MeloTel is your go-to service provider for all of your VoIP telephone service needs. Our Telephone Features do include Hold Music. But our Voice Talent Production team just so happens to be made up of some of Canada’s most talented vocalists as well. If you need a professional on-hold message recorded for your business, look no further than our amazing group of voice artists. Contact us today by calling 1-888-MELOTEL!
