The Season Is Here for On-hold Messages

Ready or not, we’ve entered the holidays. Whether you already have your closets full of presents and your shopping list complete or you’re just hoping to ignore the hype for as long as possible, remember to make your on-hold messaging double as your storefront. This doesn’t necessarily mean your messaging needs to sound like a holiday soundtrack (unless that’s a fit for your business), but you should be maximizing this retail opportunity.

Here’s how playing up the holiday season is a win-win for you and your on-hold customers:

Reward your callers: Mention an exclusive holiday promo code that they can use online or over the phone, or run a special on a particularly hot item. Either way, make it exclusive to customers who hear it while on hold.

Keep it easy: It’s already a busy time, so if you can remind a customer about your services while they’re on the phone with you, you’ve not only saved them time, but you’ve also prevented them from looking somewhere else. Ultimately, you’re reminding them that your company could help them cross something off their holiday to-do list.

Plan ahead: This end-of-year shopping frenzy isn’t limited to retail stores with holiday items. Household and business services can be packaged as gift cards and certificates, or you can plant the seed for customers to start planning for 2013 budgets. For example, a business might not be looking to sign up for an outside coffee service for their employees right now, but you can benefit by mentioning that now is a great time to start thinking about 2013 and even offer discounts for signing up prior to the start of the new year.

If your on-hold messaging could use a little holiday spirit, let the experts at America On Hold help you craft the right message for the season. We’ll make sure that you are capitalizing on year-end shopping and preparation.

Make Your On-hold Messages Social

Multitasking is easily part of our day-to-day routines. Add technology to that mix, and you have a customer who is on hold with your company while also using a laptop or tablet. This is the perfect opportunity to use that distraction to your advantage by promoting your social media presence and directing them to those sites while they’re still on the phone with you.

Reminding customers about your social media is a great way for them to:

Reach your company in a nontraditional way. 
Maybe customers have questions after the call — and after business hours. They remember your company has a Twitter account, so that’s an easy way for them to still touch base with your company while it’s on their mind.

Learn about other aspects of your company. 
You might already be the pizza place they love, but when they visit your restaurant’s Facebook page and see photos of the neighborhood youth soccer team you sponsor, they’ve just learned about another way you’re involved in the community.

Hear from other customers. 
Yelp, Twitter, and Facebook are a great way to showcase happy customers enjoying engaging with your company.

Increase exposure. 
If customers become engaged in your social media, their relationship with you lasts after the phone call when they see your company’s posts, tweets, and videos pop up in their social media feeds.

Find more value in your company. 
A customer might just be calling to check up on the status of a recent clothing order, but if your messaging has a reminder to check out your company’s new Pinterest board featuring your YouTube video “50 Ways to Tie a Scarf” the customer becomes interested in another facet of your company, and possibly another purchase.

If you’re interested in increasing exposure for your social media marketing efforts through your on-hold messaging, let the experts at America On Hold help you craft the right message.