Waiting messages can be exactly what you want them to be: entertaining, interesting, educational, marketing, or a combination of all of these elements. The key to your recordings is the strategy and the script that comes out of it.
Waiting Message Types
Most retention messages fall into one of three categories
1. Generic messages with canned music on hold. The reason they are so popular is that they are usually free. Many phone systems come with a message that callers can listen to on hold. Generic messages are probably better than silence on hold, but since they’re so popular, phone callers find them boring and will quickly get frustrated. They are simply worth the price!
2. “Custom” posts. Increasingly popular, personalized messages include information about your company, but are quite affordable. After listening to them for a while you will understand why. Most personalized messages use a “template” or “standard” sounding script. Your company name, your location, and a list of your products are added to make it sound less “canned.” The final item is a list of cliché phrases that anyone from a bricklayer to a neurosurgeon could easily use. Unfortunately, they sound so much alike that you probably sound like your competition. Do you recognize any of these shots?
in. Your call is very important to us
B. Your call will be answered by the next available representative
con We are “conveniently located” in…
D. We will be happy to answer your questions
me. Our professional staff…
F. and many more
3. Custom Written Messages – Like other custom written marketing materials (brochures, white papers, website pages), a custom written hold message takes a lot of research, strategy, and time. The result should be a unique-sounding marketing message that speaks to what you do, how you do it, and what sets you apart from the competition. When your goal for your personalized messages is marketing, the best messages start conversations that lead to sales, educate callers on new and different ways you can help them, and “cross the market” to increase your average order size. .
Marketing
Marketing guru Jay Conrad Levinson, author of “Guerrilla Marketing,” says that “Marketing is everything you do to promote your business, from the moment you conceive it.” Waiting messages are one of the many marketing tools you can use (such as flyers, print or broadcast advertising, websites, blogs, social media, email, direct mail, personal letters, yellow pages, directory marketing, outdoor, etc.). etc.)
Like other marketing tools, your success depends on starting with a well-defined plan: what do you want to achieve? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Who are your potential customers and what do they want or need?
To be successful, every marketing tool you use has to work with your marketing plan.
Message waiting is no exception. Once you define your goals, you can choose the type of phone marketing messages you need and make the right decision about who can help you achieve your goals.