Music On Hold News

Do People Care What They Hear While On Hold?

So, what do you think… do people who call your company care about–or even notice–the music on hold?

While folks are waiting, they’re listening. Sometimes really bad music on hold becomes a source of ridicule for a company. For example, the music on hold at the web hosting firm One and One’s tech help line is so weird, a caller posted it on YouTube: http://cpanel.tv/reviews/1and1/strange-music-on-hold/

A comment to the posting says they were once on hold and heard John Mayer’s song “Say What You Need To Say”. Funny.

Blogger Ian Trigillis presents this account:

Because I’m in the process of moving, I’ve been spending a fair amount of time on the telephone, listening to the isn’t-it-a-wonderful-thing-to-be-on-hold music at various furniture stores, credit card companies, and public utilities. Today I had to listen to Jingle Bell Rock for seven agonizing minutes.

Yes, people are listening to what you’ve got on hold. In fact, studies show that what people hear while on hold makes a difference when it comes to perceptions about your business.

A 2006 Washington Post story (music on hold study) reveals details of a study conducted by two Georgia State University professors. It turns out that good music makes hold times seem shorter.  Long wait times typically lead callers to a more negative attitude toward the company they’ve called.  The most convincing piece of evidence in the study shows that there’s a big difference between hearing silence on hold versus music on hold:

Some of the respondents said they liked to hear the music because they knew they were still connected to the company; no music made them wonder if they were still on hold.

The professors also concluded that companies should not let their music choice get stale.

And firms should try to change the songs because customers get tired of listening to same, old music every time they call in.

The phrase “hold music” conjures up images of the “100 Strings Orchestra” playing some droning version of a pop song, however, and many companies are afraid to dip their toe into that cesspool. There’s even an ode written by humorist Phil Nelson (to the tune “Hold On My Heart” by Phil Collins)…

On hold music
Now I’m doing many other things
Finally, when they come back
Break my concentration

On hold music
Used by companies
And some smart people who
Have too many calling

Yeah, on hold music
Difficult to be patient
‘Cause they’re just wasting my time

The bottom line is that callers do notice and care about what they hear while waiting. Work with professionals who know the difference between Muzak and effective music and messages on hold. Callers will believe that their hold times are shorter than they actually are, while developing a more positive impression of your company.

Can Your Message On Hold Company Be Green? 10 Ways We Are.

A recent blog post at AutoMPG.org gets it right when they say:

Message on hold is one of the most cost effective methods of communicating a company’s marketing message to its customers and prospective customers, and it works.  But messages on hold can also be one of the most environmentally friendly forms of advertising there is.

Here’s how Easy On Hold is helping:

1)  We offer message and music on hold players that are managed over the Internet. See information about the iProMOH by Interalia on our site. If you’re managing multiple locations, this type of unit will save you from driving from location to location to maintain and update. Messages are transmitted from the Easy On Hold studio directly to the unit.

2)  Internet delivery of music on hold messages means removable media need not be shipped.

3)  Cassettes and CDs are disposable.We can keep these from landfills.

4) Cassette and CD packaging can be eliminated, saving paper and plastic.

5) CDs are petroleum-based products. Eco Facts – It takes an estimated 300 cubic feet of natural gas, two cups of crude oil and 24 gallons of water to make a pound of plastic, which is enough for 30 CDs. Further, it’s estimated that it will take over 1 million years for a CD to completely decompose in a landfill. [Source - Back Thru The Future, a New Jersey-based company that recycles electronic devices.]

6) Easy On Hold’s music library is updated and delivered electronically. We do not purchase CDs for the reasons described above.

7) Easy On Hold is now paperless. Our new client scripting service is 100% online. Our writers, producers and clients can easily log in and write scripts that can be stored and produced digitally.

8)  Our message-on-hold systems do not use batteries. Easy On Hold recommends the use of a professional music on hold player, rather than an “i-pod” type player that utilizes a battery. We definitely discourage the use of all types of batteries.  Kate Krebs of the national Recycling Coalition states, “Lithium Ion batteries are classified by the federal government as non-hazardous waste and are safe for disposal in the normal municipal waste stream.” Most other types of batteries include toxic metals such as cadmium. [Source: Computer World] Why use a product that creates waste?

9)  AutoMPG.org points out that on hold messaging players may use about 1/50th the energy of a standard light bulb. That’s efficient.

10)  Of course, using available “on-hold” time allows you to talk about ways your company is environmentally sensitive–an issue that is increasingly influencing buying decisions. Contact Easy On Hold for help with a custom music message on hold.

APX Alarm Turns to Easy On Hold to Boost Brand Development

APX Alarm, the nation’s 7^th largest home security company, launched a massive, innovative North American sales effort last week involving 2,200 college students canvassing some 90 cities across the U.S. and Canada. A key part of the strategy? A custom on-hold messaging program from Easy On Hold that supports key sales messaging points.

“It’s the 10th year of marketing our service to homeowners door to door over the summer, and we expect to add 360,000 customers,” says Tom Coleman, APX Alarm  special projects manager. “The college student sales program has been a huge success and is the reason why we’ve steadily move up the ranks into the industry’s top 10 in terms of customers. And while potential customers are impressed by the well-trained student at their door, they want to make sure our company is legitimate, so they’ll call our office to find out more.”

That’s when the Easy On Hold program comes into play.

“With more than 500,000 customers, our call center fields thousands of calls a day, and inevitably customers are holding for assistance,” Tom explains. “It’s important that our hold message sound professional, convey helpful information and help us build rapport with our audience. On hold messaging gives us that added credibility. It just wouldn’t make sense to launch such a sales effort without messaging-on-hold as a part of the mix.”

Working with Easy On Hold producers, Tom created 14 short statements that pack a lot of punch while giving customers “think time,” he calls it. “We didn’t want an on hold message with too much talking; that can frustrate callers and they tune out. So we developed short little ideas that talk about the benefits and features of working with APX Alarm, followed by almost a minute of music between each idea. It’s a happy medium—simple, punchy content and fresh, great-sounding music. This is going to take us to the next level in our brand credibility,” says Tom.

3 Reasons Why Radio On Hold Is Killing Your Business

Radio. Great in the car. Terrible on your phone system.

Sometimes your marketing consultant needs to be brutally blunt with you, in order to help you see what your customers are seeing. Here’s what a good marketing consultant would say about using the radio for an on-hold program: it is killing your business! 

1. Radio on hold introduces doubt in your customer’s mind. Callers need to know you are the professionals you claim to be. You need to demonstrate that you have taken care of every detail. All seems well until you put them on hold and they hear the radio. They wonder, “Is this the best the ‘experts’ can do? I wonder if I can trust them 100%. They took a shortcut. In what other ways do they take shortcuts?” Use hold time to convince your buyer that calling you was the right decision, not a mistake.
   
2. Radio on hold annoys your customers. Your caller is looking for advice, information, help…  and get placed on hold. Perhaps this hold time is inevitable, but it is still unwelcome in the mind of your caller. To make matters worse, you force the caller to hear an advertisement for used cars. What a jarring circumstance! What a disconnect! What a negative impression to leave with your caller. Use hold time to connect with and reassure your buyer.
   
3. Radio on hold offends your callers. Let’s take the annoyance factor one step further. Suppose the radio is playing an “inappropriate” song (the airwaves are full of profanity). Perhaps the caller hears a disturbing news story. The radio content is completely out of your control. Use hold time to give your buyer a ‘safe place to come to’ in every aspect of dealing with your company.

If we ask, “Do you want your callers to know they’re working with a reliable company?” you would say yes.  Do you mean it? Prove it. Bluntly put, radio on hold is a business-killer. Knock it off.

5 Reasons On-Hold Music Is Awful

It is a universal understanding: on-hold music is bad music.  But I know why. I also know how to correct the situation.

First, here’s a post dedicated to why music on hold has such a bad reputation. 5 reasons most music on hold is awful:

1. Continuous Audio. Callers need to know that they are still connected, so music is piped in to create a continuous flow of audio. I suppose it could be all speaking, but music seems like a harmless idea (at first).
2. Licensing Required. Now that we’ve decided to use music in the hold queue, we can’t just put on our favorite CD. Music on the hold button is considered a ‘re-broadcast’ of that tune, which requires a performance license. To solve this problem, “royalty-free” music is produced by home-grown musicians with a keyboard and a Mac. This explains some of the cheap-sounding instrumentation and sampled loops. Bad.
3. The Tech Guy Did It. Is the music on hold a function of I.T. or Marketing? We say marketing, but many a tech-person has been asked to connect a music thing-a-ma-job up to the phone system and keep it on the cheap. Hey, you can’t blame the tech department, whose proposal for a multi-channel acoustic music feed got shot down. Some phone systems have an internal music loop, which is always bad. It was just a place-holder, folks. It was meant to be replaced with something better.
4. Bad Equipment. Why does music on hold sound like it is running on an old cassette machine? Because it’s running on an old cassette machine. There is a pile of old equipment out there, most of which has been neglected.
5. Decision-makers Are Unaware. I guess it’s been a long time since the CEO called and was placed on-hold. Music on hold is forgotten.

There are other reasons, such as bandwidth restrictions, cell phone signals, and… well, just bad taste. For a real-world view of bad music on hold, check out this great post: http://www.neatorama.com/2010/04/12/11-recordings-of-terrible-hold-music/

Increase The Average Sale

Business consultant Mark Salmon writes an interesting post on the four ways to increase business:

• Increase the number of customers of the type you want to have
• Increase the number of times customers come back
• Increase the average value of each sale
• Increase the effectiveness of each process in the business

While all of these deserve attention, today I would like to suggest a way to increase the average sale.

Educational Information Plays A Role In Increasing Sales

Communicating educational information about your products or services can help build customers’ confidence in your business and increase the sale value. Your collateral material, such as “leave-behinds”, signage, newsletters and e-mails may impress potential buyers. Do not overlook your message on hold system.

Mr. Salmon writes:

Surprisingly, your on-hold messages can spark a customer’s interest and increase the average sale.  For example, if you call a business about a specific product or services and you’re put on hold for a moment.  A recording comes on that tells you about other products or services that you may not otherwise have known about — causing you to ask for more information or come in and see for yourself.