Old news is no news at all. So hear are 76 Profitable Reasons To Update Your On Hold Messages that will get you noticed, and get your callers interested in you:
- One of your customers/potential customers asked you a question
- One of your customers didn’t know enough about what you do
- One of your customers one uses one of your services/products
- Lots of your customers ask the same question(s)
- You want more of your customers to ask the question that leads to a profitable sale
- You want more of your customers to ask the question that leads to them being a “lifetime customer“
- Summer: it’s coming, or it’s here, and that’s important in your industry
- Fall: it’s coming, or it’s here, and that’s important in your industry
- Winter: it’s coming, or it’s here, and that’s important in your industry
- Spring: it’s coming, or it’s here, and that’s important in your industry
- New Products or Services
- Get more referrals
- Educate your customers about more of your products and services
- Inform your prospects about how you can help them
- Take the opportunity to inform everyone about what makes you different from your competition
- You have New Competition
- Your Old Competition went out of business
- Diversification
- Specialization
- New Website
- Old Website: new features
- Old Website: overlooked helpful information
- Improved services
- New staff
- Moving
- New location added
- Your callers are asking new questions
- Your callers have specific problems
- Your callers all want the same thing
- Your callers aren’t asking questions
- Increase sales of “cross sell products”
- Increase sales of “add-on” products
- The things your callers need today
- The things your callers will need in 60 days
- Your most profitable new product or service
- Your most profitable old product or service that customers have forgotten about
- New Advertising that you’d like to make more effective
- The products or services you can’t afford to advertise
- You want to Increase your average invoice
- You have a new way to use an existing product
- You have a special price offer
- You have a special event coming
- You had a special event
- You won an award
- You invented something
- You’ve changed the way you do business
- You made it easier to buy from you
- You’ve got a new way to beat the competition
- You’re going to be in a trade show
- You’re going to be in an article
- You’re going to start using social media
- You’re going to start sending email blasts and want your customer email addresses
- You’ve got products or services your customers don’t know about
- You’ve got promotions for each holiday
- You’ve got old inventory that you want to turn into cash
- You’re opening a new location
- You’re closing a location
- You’re sending out client surveys
- You’re hosting seminars on how to use your products/service better
- You’re introducing a new model or update
- Lots of customers ask the same question, so you realize that others might have the same concerns, too.
- You don’t want your customers to get bored with your products or services, so you want to give them new life
- You’ve got new uses for old products
- You’re launching a new strategic alliance with another company to provide better service and increase sales
- You’re reached a long sought-after goal
- You’ve got a new patent
- You want to introduce the new model year, and build excitement
- You want to sell the rest of the old model year, and build excitement
- You’ve found a better way to compete
- You’ve got new marketing plans
- You’ve got new sales goals
- You want to target a new market segment
- You have complimentary products (bread and butter)
- You have add-on products
- You want to tell your customers about upgraded product/service choices
- You have a great way to attract customers into your showroom
Here are a few “bonus” ideas about how to update your on hold messages:
- You never have enough time to give your customers all the information you’d like them to have. So update your on hold messages.
- You want to give your customers and callers “tips” and “helpful advice“
- You want to entertain your callers
- You have more to offer than ever before
- You are specializing, and concentrating on specific products or services
- You’ve learned more about what your customers want, and you know how to give it to them
- You’re busy, and your callers are spending longer on hold
- You have a new phone system/phone service, and customers now wait in a “queue” waiting to be answered
- You want to learn more about what your customers want, and you want to ask for their ideas
- You want to test a new idea and see how customers react, but you don’t have a huge budget for testing
- You realize that direct mail goes directly into the garbage so you want a more effective way to inform your prospects
- You want to drive more prospects to your website
- Your company does more than your competition does, but if nobody realizes it they won’t realize the value you give…or want to pay for it
- You’re tired of competing on price, because your prospects don’t know how you can help them better than your competition does
- You have loyal customers who call you…sometimes more than once a day. You want them to hear something “new” and “fresh”
- Your customers buy from you once, then you don’t hear from them again. Since it’s always easier to make “an additional sale to a satisfied customer” than to a new one, you want to give customers more reasons and ways to buy from you
- You want to increase the “lifetime value” of every customer
- You want to build excitement to draw in new customers
- You’re doing something different to help your customers better
- New Competition moved into town and you want customers to know why they should stick with you
- You rely on “word of mouth” advertising and need a way to build more “word of mouth” You can if you update your on hold messages
- You’re offering more service or “value added” to attract more customers, but first they have to know about it
- You want to make your advertising more effective
- Your direct mail/billboard/cable TV/radio advertising never seems to reach your “target market,” and you want your best prospects (everyone who calls you) to know about your products and services
- You want to sound more professional
- Your customers don’t know about all your products
- One of your products has changed
- You have something to say, but don’t know how to say it. Luckily, we’ll write the script that will get you the response you want.
- Nothing has changed
- The seasons have changed and your clients need different things at different times of year
- There’s a new model
- You have left-over stock of the old, outdated model
- You’re on You Tube
- You’re on Linked In
- You’re on Facebook
- You have resources on your website that no one uses
- Your customers are looking for lower prices, but you offer more value.
- You want to offer more value
- You’ve always had a great idea, but couldn’t afford to promote it.
- You work with a charity or organization and you think others should, too.
- You have a story to tell.
- You updated your blog
- You’ve got a special event coming
- You host “demo days” for your customers to learn more about your products
- You’ve teamed up with a “non-competing” business to create synergy (call if you don’t know how to do this)
- You have a new white paper to offer
- You have new research that can help your client
- You have new ways to help your client increase sales
- You can help your client decrease expenses
- You’re using social networking
- You have a new video on YouTube
- You offer good ideas in your blog
- There’s something you want customers to see on your website
- Insurance Agencies can respond to “cut rate” competitors (like Geico) with their own advantages
- Have you improved your website functionality?
- Insurance Agencies can educate customers about rising cost of liability
- Insurance Agencies can educate customers about hard to find/hard to understand specialty policies. Tell them when you update your on hold messages.
- Insurance Agencies can educate customers about their changing needs
- Insurance Agencies can address new needs of an aging client
- Customer service is the new marketing. Tell your caller what’s best about your customer service.
- Everyone hates to check in a airports. What makes your “check in procedure” enjoyable?
- Every business wants to save money. How do you save your customer money?
- Every business wants to grow. How do you help your customer grow?
- Telling is selling. Testimonials are proof. Do you have any testimonials on your messages?
- Do you have a mobile app? Do your customers know?
- How would your customers use a mobile app for your business? Ask for suggestions.
- All your updates are FREE with your Informer Service. Let’s update yours now!
There are lots of reasons to update your on hold messages
And they’re different for every business. What’s your best reason? If you’re not sure, let us give you some ideas.
Want more ideas? Call us and we’ll ask you lots of questions that will help lead to lots of great ideas about why to update your on hold messages. Call us, in New York at 212-355-6980, In Connecticut 203-655-3920, or Nationwide at 800-862-8896.