AUDIO LEADS TO PATIENCE (& SALES)

When left in silence while being on hold caller can become frustrated (and potentially hang up the phone) is if they perceive their time on hold to be excessive. Even if someone has only been holding for 2 minutes, this time “feel” longer than it actually is. Dead air, or “unoccupied” time makes the time seem to drag on, whereas if there is content filling this time—such as music or a spoken message—the time feels like it’s going more quickly. Explained waits (informing them that the call will be answered soon or stating a current approximate wait time) are more favorable to a holding caller than unexplained waits.

A business recently contacted us needing help with creating an on-hold message and accompanying music. In checking their current method we found it to be mostly dead air except for the "We appreciate you. Please continue to hold" vocal message. Sales were dwindling and, according to customer surveys, it was due to being on hold too long and feeling ignored. This made them frustrated and gave them the feeling that the business didn't care about their customers. In speaking with the business owner he expressed a desire to have both music and voice.

Simultaneously playing music and a vocal message makes the on-hold sound chaotic and cluttered, which can be irritating. Upstate Digital Solutions separately recorded clearly spoken messages and music. Because it has been shown that callers respond the most favorably to music and messages that are produced according to a simple pattern we kept the music selections to the same duration as the spoken. Since hold music is the first representation of a business that a new client gets it was important to select royalty-free tunes that reflected the face of the business. Not all music is right for every business.

Because this was a pizzeria that was owned and operated by people in their mid 20's, fun Italian music was chosen. The vocals were recorded by the owner and other employees. Each stated their names for that personal touch. The results of having the on-hold audio was dramatic for Santoro and Sons. Those who had to sit on-hold were more calm and relaxed once they were able to talk to an employee. Because of this they were more receptive to additional purchases such as adding additional pizza toppings or a dessert pizza.