I don’t watch the evening news on TV anymore because I don’t have time. There’s always something to do. I get home and there is family or work stuff to do. Or both. Besides, I get a news feed on my phone, and like most of us, tend to hear about news as it happens.
I buy drive-through coffee. I make hands free calls in the car. I get stuff done on the way to going places to get other stuff done.
Sound familiar?
We’re all trying to get more done with what seems to be a shrinking time budget. I seem to remember when even phone calls were more relaxed, but nowadays if it isn’t answered fast I’m thinking within three rings of other things I could be getting done. And if I have to hang up, not only do I hang up feeling a bit miffed, but the tsunami of stuff I have to do often distracts me and I invariably get to the end of the day not having called back.
So if the modern business caller is so impatient and fickle, why give them excuses to go away if they spend any time on hold? If you are running silence, the classic ‘chimes’ or a radio station, you may as well have a pre-recorded message that says “Please hang up now, we don’t care.” No-one has time to waste.
Now let’s look at the other side of the coin. If you are forced to put callers on hold regularly, you have to admit that as a business you are sometimes pressed for time yourself, right? Can I suggest, then, that you think hard not about whether you put callers on hold, but how you put them on hold. If you are sending them off to boredom you are bound to lose them regularly. If you are giving them more information about your business, your products, specials or unique advantages, you stand a good chance not just of keeping them happy, but actually making a sale. Especially if the messages are short, creative and entertaining.
And don’t laugh at the prospect of an on-hold message that’s entertaining. Some of my clients tell me stories of callers who have called back multiple times because they enjoyed the messages so much! Others call to complain when ‘an old favourite’ is changed.
On-hold messages can be entertaining and engaging. I’d argue that today more than ever, they need to be. And if you can argue against that, well…you must have more time on your hands than I do!
Attention is the new currency. When someone offers you a little slice of theirs, don’t waste it.
Jamie Cameron.