What makes Creative Audio Imaging unique? We’re passionate about marketing and are committed to building a trusted relationship with our clients. To give you a glimpse into their successes with our products, feel free to take a look at some of our on hold message case studies on our website.

Ensuring you have a robust on hold message system, as well as staying abreast of what your customers want can sometimes be a challenge. And as business gets more and more competitive, so do the risks of losing customers or prospects to the competition.

Only Creative Audio Imaging gives you the integrated tools you need to completely close the loop with your on hold messaging needs. We’re affordable, focused on your needs and ready to help.

• Defining your target market: Who is calling in to your company? What are their needs? How you communicate with this market is of paramount importance. It will help you determine the rest of your follow up marketing plan. In understanding your target market, you need to study the demographics and psychographics so you can set up your messages for success.

• Defining the goals for your messages: Will your phone messages be a lead generation tool? Or will they communicate basic company information? Knowing what you want your phone messages to do for you and how they will do it is critically important. You want to be sure your voice talent understands your goals so they can use the correct tone and style in their delivery.

• What should your messages say? Will you try and upsell callers into a new service? Will you give your company’s “elevator pitch”? What can you communicate to your callers so you save your receptionist’s time? These are all great questions. Knowing what you will say is step three in the On Hold Messaging Planning Process. You want to ensure that your on hold callers are educated, entertained and motivated to do something after hearing your messages.

• Consider your budget: How much can you spend for the project? At the end of the day, how much you can afford is what it’s all about. Your on hold messaging program will cost some money, but consider it an investment. Your on hold messaging is going to be a cornerstone of your marketing program, something that will serve you for years to come.

So, there you go. A list of key steps as you begin the important journey of a new on hold messaging project. Growing a business through on hold messaging can be a challenging process. Following a set of guidelines can keep you focused and help you achieve your goals.

-Steve

Your customer is eagerly awaiting for you to return to their call. Now that you have their undivided attention what messages do you want to get across to them?

Perhaps you have new products or services they should know about. Or a dynamic company history that makes you stand out. Maybe you simply want to let your callers know that you care. Whatever you want to say, this is your opportunity!

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Leverage Your Resources – Creating your on-hold script doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch. Your website, brochures, and existing marketing materials are great resources. Your scriptwriter can often pull information and wording directly from the materials you already have or consult them to create something complimentary.

• Highlight Your Strengths - What makes your company unique and sets your business apart from your competitors?  Those are the things you want to focus on in your on-hold message. Have you received any awards or recognition? Perhaps you’re affiliated with a prestigious association. Your customers want to be sure they’ve made the right decision in choosing to work with you…show them that they have!

• Choose Your Tone – Think of your on-hold message as a ‘virtual receptionist.’ If a customer walked through your doors how would they be greeted? A client approaching the front desk at an upscale law firm would receive a very different welcome than a patron stepping up to the host stand at the local bar and grill. Your on-hold music and voice selections should reflect the nature of your business and your message, whatever that may be.

• Beware of Information Overload - Trying cram too much content into one message or overwhelming your callers with technical jargon are classic mistakes. A successful on-hold message offers callers concise information while maintaining a memorable, catchy appeal. When you achieve that balance your callers will retain the information better and ask you to fill in the details when you return to their call.

• Call to Action – Be sure to include your website several times throughout the message or promote your ongoing events.While your on-hold message is a great place for your customers to learn about new services, they may get side-tracked when you return to the line. So, prompting them to ask for more details or visit your website is vital. Encourage them to ask questions and learn more, and there is a good chance they’ll do just that!

• Cover All Your Bases - Many businesses find that a significant percentage of callers are simply asking for basic company information: hours of operation, fax number, address, nearby landmarks and website url. You can save your employees and your callers time  by including that information in the on-hold message. Be sure to provide your scriptwriter with all of the basic information, so they can work it into the script.

Follow these tips and you’ll find it’s easy to turn your callers into customers in no time.