Take a second to think about the marketing you do to get customers to call your business. There’s the lengthy brainstorming sessions, the complex customer acquisition strategies, and of course, the advertising dollars.
Most businesses spend about 94% of their marketing budgets on efforts to get people to call their business. They put almost all of their resources toward getting their phone to ring and consider a call a victory.
But that call isn’t a victory for the business or the customer if the business makes a major mistake once the phone rings — placing the customer on hold, in silence.
Why Does an On-Hold Message Matter?
After spending nearly all of their marketing dollars on getting customers to call, most businesses only leave about 6% of their budget for managing what happens next — the customer calling experience.
Many businesses don’t feel a need to put resources toward improving the experience of the caller — which is a big mistake and missed opportunity.
1: You only get one chance to make a first impression.
By having callers sit in silence as they wait for a representative, you are providing a mediocre introduction at the first customer touch point.
Do you really want your customer’s first impression of you to be a silent, lonely wait that feels longer than it actually is?
Or do you want your customer to feel welcomed and engaged by your business?
2: When left in silence on hold, about 60% of callers will hang up.
By ignoring the on hold experience of your customers, you could be negating the resources you exerted to get that customer to call you.
People don’t like to sit in silence and are more likely to hang up than hold when left in silence.
3: When a person calls your business, they are one of the most highly-engaged prospects your business can have.
By failing to connect with customers during this time, you could be missing a major opportunity to drive more sales and increase revenue.
Just consider the possibilities.
The Number of Missed Opportunities Without Hold Messaging
who could be listening to your message
This formula will show you just how many customers could be furthering their relationships with your business by being presented with hold messaging.
If only ten people are placed on hold every day and your business is open five days a week (260 days/year), that could be 2,600 opportunities to turn a holding customer into additional revenue.
Now, you may say that you don’t place your callers on hold very often. But more than likely, you are fooling yourself.
Many businesses simply don’t notice how often and how long they put their customers on hold. But once you spend a few days being aware of how often you do this at your business, you will realize it is more often than you first thought.
Take a few days and count the number of calls to your business, then go back to the formula above. You’ll be surprised by how many opportunities your business misses every year by not utilizing hold messaging.
Once you realize how many missed opportunities are passing you by, contact Spectrio to see how we can match you with a hold messaging plan that will maximize your customer’s experience and your opportunity to bring in additional revenue for your business.