| It is inevitable that at one time or another, you have no | | | | Build confidence in your brand and provide your caller |
| alternative but to put your client on hold; however, | | | | with good information. Here are a few ideas for this: |
| make this your opportunity to demonstrate to them | | | | - Has you or you company won any awards? |
| how professional your company is. This may be the | | | | - Do you / your company hold any relevant |
| only opportunity you have to do business with them so | | | | qualifications? |
| you can't afford to get their on hold experience wrong. | | | | - What charitable foundation do you support? |
| It is worth investing a little bit of time to get this right. | | | | - Do you attend / exhibit at any industry trade events? |
| The on hold messages and background music needs | | | | - Do you have a useful blog or article archive? |
| to engage the caller, to defuse potential frustration. | | | | - What do you do that is unique / not been done by |
| Make this an opportunity to educate and create a | | | | your competitors? |
| good impression of your company and products. | | | | Prolonged On Hold |
| The Script | | | | After may be 1.5 - 2 minutes, it is always a good idea |
| First and foremost, tell the caller where they are and | | | | to say something like, "Thank you for continuing to hold, |
| thank them for calling. "Thank you for calling [Company | | | | your patience is appreciated." |
| Name], please hold, an advisor will be with you shortly" | | | | It is also good at this stage to maybe offer some |
| is a good start. | | | | alternatives, for example... "Thank you for your |
| Don't bombard them with all of your information at the | | | | patience, please continue to hold and we will be with |
| start of your script, keep it segmented and concise. If | | | | you shortly. Alternatively, you can send an email to " |
| you have 8 pieces of information to communicate, | | | | OR |
| provide 8 short paragraphs so that your audio | | | | "Thank you for your patience, please continue to hold |
| engineer(s) can spread it out over your chosen music. | | | | and we will be with you shortly. Alternatively, you can |
| It will be received better in smaller chunks and | | | | order online at |
| combined more effectively with music. | | | | OR |
| After the initial greeting, make the first three on hold | | | | "Thank you for your patience, please continue to hold |
| segments the most salient. These should be points that | | | | and we will be with you shortly. Alternatively, you can |
| the caller will be interested in and ensure that they stay | | | | leave a message by pressing 0 and we will call you |
| on the line. | | | | back" |
| For example, if your company is holding an annual | | | | Caller Frequency |
| event, has a special offer, a free magazine etc. make | | | | How often will your customers call and be put on hold? |
| sure that this information is communicated in the few | | | | If this is infrequent, having a single section of on hold |
| first messages. | | | | audio created will probably be sufficient |
| You may say something like... | | | | If your customers call frequently, it may be worth |
| "Stay on the line and request your free magazine | | | | getting your on hold section updated several times a |
| when you are connected" | | | | year or have several on hold sections created in one |
| OR | | | | go. You can rotate these on a regular basis to offer |
| "Stay on the line and get your 15% discount code | | | | variety. This will give your regular callers the impression |
| when you are connected" | | | | that you care about their on hold experience and the |
| Always try to tell them about things that may be of | | | | change can be very obvious to them, especially if the |
| interest to them. Give them an incentive to stay on | | | | music is changed as well as the voice-over. |
| hold. Telling your caller that you offer a 15% discount at | | | | Also, don't be afraid to mix and match voices, a |
| the weekends is much more helpful to them than | | | | variety of male and female voices can be used to |
| continuously thanking them for holding. | | | | create interest and variety for the caller. |