You’ve probably been on hold with a company and noticed that they have a pre-recorded message playing while you wait. These on-hold messages can be quite effective at keeping customers’ minds off the time and helping them feel more at ease. But did you know some companies take on-hold messaging for business to the next level by creating custom messages for their clients? It’s true!
Creating customized on-hold messages is possible and incredibly simple if done correctly. Here’s how:
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Select The Best-automated Message System
When selecting an automated message system, there are several key considerations and best practices for on-hold messages to keep in mind.
It Should Be Easy To Use
You want a system with all the features you need, but it must be simple enough to figure out how everything works. Choosing a product that is intuitive will make setup a breeze and ensure that everyone on staff knows how to use it properly.
It Should Be Affordable
The goal here is not only for your business’ automated messages to sound professional but also to give listeners an accurate impression of what kind of company you run. But, of course, it can’t happen if you’re spending enough money or being charged exorbitant fees every month (or year). The last thing any small business wants is for its marketing budget to take up half its profits! So look for an option that gives users powerful tools without draining their accounts dry every month (or year).
Prepare And Organize Your Script
Before you begin recording the script, you must realize that you’ll want to prepare and organize this message. The following considerations are vital in creating an on-hold message:
- Use a professional-sounding on-hold message script. Using professional terminology will make your message sound more official and reliable.
- Be concise and direct in what you say. Your customer doesn’t want to listen to a long, rambling spiel about how amazing your product or service is; they just want the facts! Make sure everything is clear and concise before recording so that nobody gets confused or bored while listening on hold!
- Stay consistent with branding guidelines across other marketing channels (website, social media profiles). Customers should be able to identify with who they’re listening too as soon as they hear them speak on hold as well – make sure there aren’t any discrepancies between this channel’s messaging vs others!
Also Read: Benefits of Audio Marketing Techniques for Business growth
Record A Professional On-hold Message
An on-hold message must be carefully written and recorded to ensure it is effective. Here are some tips for creating and recording a creative on-hold message:
- Research your audience before writing your script to know who will listen. It will help you determine what kind of tone and language your audience expects from your company’s messages.
- Keep it short and sweet. Most people don’t want to listen to an endless spiel when on hold; they want specific information quickly to get back to what they were doing before picking up the phone. So your script should be at most 60 seconds in length.
- Don’t read off a script. You may think that reading off a script will save time, but it’s much more difficult for listeners than speaking because pauses between each line make it sound unnatural and robotic rather than friendly and engaging, like someone talking.
- Record your message in a quiet, professional environment. If you have the option of recording at home or in the office, choose the latter.
- Use a good quality microphone with plenty of options for sound level adjustment (i.e., compression).
- Record your message at the highest possible quality — this is important because an on-hold message that sounds like it was recorded on an old cassette tape will be distracting to callers and hurt your business’s overall brand perception.
- Practice every sentence until you are comfortable with it before moving on to another one (or simply read through all of them once for practice). Don’t worry about mistakes — just focus on getting each part right so that when you come back later with fresh eyes, there won’t be any surprises when reading from the script!
Play Music While The Customer Is On-hold
Music is a great way to set the tone for your on-hold message. It is used to reinforce the brand or help create an environment more conducive to engagement with the message. If you’re having trouble deciding, consider whether or not you have used any music in your marketing campaigns and see if those options are available for purchase. The same goes for music clips from Youtube commercials, which may also go on hold messages in some cases.
Perform A Quality Check
After recording your on-hold message, performing a quality check is essential. This will help you find any errors or mistakes that could cause problems when you install the message on hold.
- Quality control of recordings is especially important because phone calls are recorded and monitored by companies such as police departments, credit card companies, and banks. If there’s something wrong with your recording, they may not be able to use it as evidence in court cases against them. If this happens and your case goes to court, it could cost time and money for both parties involved in the lawsuit or investigation. In addition to criminal cases affecting one person at a time, these types of situations also impact large corporations like airlines which use recordings from customers’ phones when investigating customer service issues related to flight delays or lost luggage claims – meaning lots of people could be impacted negatively if there were issues with those recordings!
- Quality control of music tracks is also important because many businesses use custom music tracks during their call transfer process (elevator music). Music tracks that don’t sound good can cause customers’ moods/emotions like frustration which lead them into impatience while waiting on hold until someone comes back online so they can talk with them directly instead.”
Avail The Opportunity To Promote Your Business
On-hold messages are an opportunity to provide useful information, promote new products and services or instill a sense of confidence in your business.
A professional-sounding on-hold message can make all the difference between an irate customer venting their frustration over their long wait time on social media, and having that same person leave a glowing review about how great the company is. On-hold messages should:
- Be short and concise (no more than 60 seconds)
- Provide important information that customers want to know while they’re waiting (e.g., locations/hours of operation)
- Promote products or services so you can begin building relationships with potential customers who may not be aware of what you have to offer
Bottom Line
The goal of any business is to make its customers happy, which means providing them with valuable information and a sense of confidence in your company. The above steps will help guide you through this process and ensure your message is heard and understood by those who listen. If you want to make an impact, Studio52 can help you create custom on-hold messages to keep your customers engaged and interested in your company.
