Making a good first impression is important. Not just when it comes to meeting people but for potential customers and their initial contact with your business. That could be a face-to-face interaction with you, one of your staff, a click onto your website, or a simple phone call. The importance of your telephone system shouldn’t be understated. It is arguably the most important doorway to your business where first impressions really do matter, as the customer is making an effort to open communications with you to conduct questioning or business. Making it as appealing as possible and creating a positive caller experience both to new or returning customers is a sure-fire way to convert calls into sales and give you that much needed edge over your competitors – regardless of your business size.
Music on Hold for businesses of any size:
Despite the advantage music on hold can give. Many smaller businesses choose not to make the most of this opportunity, put off by perceived high costs and presumed complex systems being out of reach most businesses. But this isn’t the case at all. Here are Plum’s top five reasons your business should be installing music-on-hold today:
1: You’re missing out on a powerful marketing tool
If you’re looking to spend on enhancing communication with your customers, then targeting a captive audience is an obvious way to ensure return on investment and improve your chances of up-selling and cross-selling to those already engaged with your product or service. A customer that has committed the time to call you is the most likely to spend money so while they’re on the line, make the most of the opportunity to tell them all about your exciting new products, exclusive deals, and special offers.
2: Reassure potential customers and reinforce your brand
An amateur phone greeting with clunky instructions and unsuitable music doesn’t exactly reassure new clients that you’re a dependable business offering robust and reliable products or services. Boost your company’s image and reputation by presenting a professional greeting that demonstrates your brand values and gain that all-important edge over competing businesses.
3: Reduce the number of abandoned calls
While many businesses continue to opt to record their own phone greetings, many have no greeting at all, with beeps and silence on hold leading to caller confusion, frustration, and abandoned calls. Your call-handling system and on-hold messaging is the doorway to your business – make it a simple and pleasant experience where new customers feel welcome and existing ones feel valued – they’ll be less likely to ditch the call and go elsewhere. Callers who experience silence on hold will often hang up within 40 seconds, while callers with on-hold music will stay on the line up to 4 minutes reducing the risk of lost business.
4: Speed up the call handling process
Whether it’s a message about having their account number ready or a payment card to hand, you can make your call handling more efficient, and process calls quicker by preparing your customers in advance before they reach the agent. Speeding up the call-handling process increases your staff productivity while your customers spend less time in the on-hold queue – a win-win situation all round.
5: Welcome callers even when you’re closed
Maintain a professional image out of hours by informing your customers of your normal opening hours and closure dates over bank holidays and the Christmas period. They’ll be reassured that you want to hear from them and encouraged to call back at another time or use an alternative method to get in touch.
Music on hold by Plum
Here at Plum, we know that the one-size-fits-all approach offered by our competitors often misses the needs of those smaller businesses requiring flexibility at a lower cost. You can enter your own script or choose from over a thousand script suggestions depending on the business; listen and choose from 150 voice actors with a broad range of accents and dialects from across the UK and beyond and select music from over 350+ royalty-paid tunes to perfectly match your product or service and complement your brand. Greetings are produced within a day of you sending your request and once signed-off, they’re quickly and easily installed onto your phone system.
