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How Often Should You Change Your Messages On Hold?

18 September 2017

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Picture yourself on hold, waiting to speak to someone. You hear the same message you heard last time you called, and the time before that. Chances are it’s NEVER been changed. It becomes “wallpaper sound” – bland, uninteresting and bordering on irritating – and reflects badly on the company, even if it’s subliminally. You think: “How hard can it be to change your message every now and again?” Good question, and the answer as you are about to find out, is not hard at all.

It’s important to keep your Messages On Hold fresh.

With around 70% of all callers placed on hold every day (according to AT & T), regularly changing what you say says a lot about your company; you’ll be perceived as being interesting, informative and progressive, in touch with your clients, with many stories to tell and lots going on.

Take a ‘set and forget’ approach and you’ll not only run the risk of alienating customers and customers-to-be, but you’ll also miss out on some golden marketing opportunities.

By changing messages on hold frequently, you can let callers know about ALL of your business.

For example, people calling a bank about travellers’ cheques could discover that there is a new high interest-bearing account they should be using, or a terrific new mortgage-refinancing opportunity, important tax information, and so forth.

Messages on Hold – an extension of your marketing

Your company spends a small fortune on marketing and advertising, so it’s crucial you carry your messages all the way through to the ‘coalface’.

Messages on Hold should reinforce the campaigns you’re running on TV and Radio, in the press and on Social Media.

This helps to keep your overall marketing consistent. In fact, you should make sure you add it to your ‘checklist’ when updating campaigns.

By making your on hold messages part of your marketing strategy, you’ll build on the awareness already created and offer clients a convenient prompt at the point of sale.

When to Update Messages On Hold

 McGirvanmedia recommend you take a proactive approach to refreshing your Messages On Hold.

Depending on your particular industry, the size of your business and the number/frequency of callers, we strongly suggest updating monthly or at the very least quarterly.

Any ‘excuse’ will do to run a new message, such as:

  • Seasonal changes and calendar events
  • New products/ services coming on stream
  • Special promotions
  • A department that needs a push
  • Combatting a competitor’s campaign or offer,
  • And more.

Look for local AND national opportunities to stay up to date and always provide information that your callers want to hear.

Rather than discarding the replaced messages, consider ‘recycling’ and running your messages in rotation.

How to Update Your On Hold Messages

Now that you know why and when to change your messages, it’s time to look at how.

 If you intend to change messages frequently, it needs to be an easy process, with everything streamlined so you’re 100% confident that you’re running the right messages at the right time.

Look for a service provider who is geared to meet your needs.

McGirvanmedia has been in the Messages On Hold business for over 25 years and we’ve got updating on-hold messages down to a fine art.

Best of all we’ll discuss your needs and work out a total package guaranteed with no extra costs.

We can work with you on the script, provide the best voices or music in the business and update your message as often as you need.

That’s right…updates as and when required, all professionally recorded so there’s no scratchy or barely audible sound quality that can affect recordings over time.

For more information and advice on when to change Messages On Hold – or anything else to do with on hold messages or music – talk to the team at McGirvanmedia today.

Call 1800 777 428 or simply complete the form below and a friendly helpful member of our team will contact you. 

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