At one time, I would have said “NO, message on hold is a service that’s nice to have, but it’s certainly not a necessity!” That was my perspective when I started working in marketing. I’ve since changed my tune.
Sooo… What changed? I did. Among other things, I learned that it takes a big investment of time, effort, and money to convert prospects into clients.
Did you know that as much as 90 to 94% of a company’s marketing budget is spent getting prospects to call? Call generating activities include advertising, website development, and more – anything you do to promote your business and get prospects to call you. For the sake of example, let’s say it takes 1000 “touches” to generate 10 prospects. Those are 10 hard-won prospects and they’re precious! What do they experience when they call your business? Do they hear an engaging on-hold marketing message or do they linger in silence?
Contrary to popular belief, silence isn’t golden. According to a survey by the North American Telecommunications Association, up to 90% of callers who wait in silence will hang up within 40 to 60 seconds. As many 34% of those who hang up won’t call back (Voice Response, Inc.). As you can see, keeping those hard-won callers on hold until you have an opportunity to chat with them isn’t just important; it’s a matter of dollars and cents!
When you ask your callers to wait in silence, you’re missing an opportunity. They called you for a reason! Use their on-hold time to educate this hard-won audience until you return to their calls. Tell them about your business, products, and services. You’ll reduce the number of callers who hang up before they speak with you AND enhance your professional image, direct callers to your website and social media pages, and cross-sell your products and services. Oh, and by the way, 20% of survey respondents said they made purchases based on something they heard on hold (Maximarketing).
Message on Hold is an effective and affordable component of any marketing strategy. It’s a tool that helps you build trust and rapport with callers, while you work to convert callers into clients. One more thing… As many as 85 to 90% of callers said they would rather listen to informative, on-hold messages about your business than music, radio, or silence on hold (Sales & Marketing Management; Cellular Marketing Magazine).
Let Message on Hold be an ambassador for your business!
Is Message on Hold a part of your marketing strategy? If not, go to SmartLinkSolutions.com to get started today. Smart Link Solutions has on-hold marketing solutions for less than you’ll pay per day for a cup of regular coffee from the corner coffee shop.
Sign up today and we’ll sweeten the deal! For new clients only, buy 3 production changes and Smart Link Solutions will give you a 4th production change for free!