If you've been ignoring the possibilities of music on hold at your company, you're missing out on building critical rapport with your callers. But don't take my word for it. One of the biggest fans of music on hold is the marketing guru himself, Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the infamous Guerilla Marketing book.
In a column for Entrepreneur Magazine, Levinson writes, "If you absolutely must put callers on hold, let them benefit from your on-hold marketing by listening to music and fascinating news about your company, particularly about special offers and new products and services. Instead of resenting you, callers will appreciate you.”
Music. Fascinating news. Special offers and new products and services. The stuff of effective music on hold messages. So why is music on hold so...forgotten...by so many marketers? And hated by so many callers?
One reason could be the boring, cheesy, fake productions churned out by so many in our industry, often at the request of the client. It happens to us, too. The other day I wrote a script for a construction company. Now construction is not exactly a life-of-the-party kind of topic, but I made sure this company sounded engaging, interesting, worth doing business with. The company owner, however, wanted to 'reign it in.' So we mined copy from the website that was in that vague, corporatey, passive voice, never meant to be heard by the ear. It was boring, cheesy and fake.
The owner loved it. Sigh.
Is music on hold a legitimate marketing tool? Of course. But only when they are produced with an ear toward the caller, using active, energetic words and phrases that feel like a conversation, not a pitch. That's our goal at Easy On Hold--music on hold your callers will love.
No comments:
Post a Comment