How long should an on hold script be? More is better, right? If my “on hold” messages help me sell, giving my callers more information will increase sales, right?
It’s not that simple.
How Long Should an On Hold Script Be?
There are a few things that we know about businesses that get telephone calls:
- The more calls they receive, the more phone callers will have to wait “on hold.” AT&T research showed that in the past about 69% of your business telephone calls had to wait on hold. And that number is only increasing
- A professional on hold message can give your callers information about where to find information on your website, educate them about your products and services, mention specials and incentives, and keep callers interested
- The time that customers spend on hold can either work for you, or against you.
How long does your average phone caller spend on hold? In most businesses the estimates range from 30 seconds to 1 minute. In “call centers” where hundreds of callers talk with telemarketing representatives, we’ve all been stuck waiting much longer.
You can make the time that telephone callers have to wait more interesting and more productive by giving them information that they want, and that you want them to have, with messages on hold. The best messages on hold
- Start with a strategy, because it’s the most important part of the process (as you’ll see later): what do you want to accomplish? What are your callers interested in? Why are they calling?
- Use that information to create well written script
- The script should be conversational, written with language that your customer typically uses (not overly technical: that won’t impress anyone!)
- Use a series of short messages, up to about 30 seconds each. Longer than that and your caller will actually retain (remember) less. Keep it short and to the point
- Don’t try to overwhelm the caller: after each message include at least 10 seconds of music so the caller can actually think about what they’ve heard.
- Are planned considering your average hold time: the longer it is, the longer the pause between messages.
Use the information and you’ll see how long should an on hold script be
How many messages should you include in your script? While your caller waits they’ll hear each phone advertisement. If you have “normal hold time” of about a minute, your typical caller will hear one or two voice messages. If your message script contains 10 messages, that’s 10-20% of the ideas you are promoting. But if your on hold advertising includes 20 messages, they’ll hear only 5-10% of your messages. There’s only a 5-10% chance that your typical caller will hear your most important message.
The real problem with how long should an on hold script be
If you have one really important message…the one that helps you make the sale…or the one that makes the sale most profitable…you want your caller to hear it, right? But if you have 10 onhold messages in your script, then you only have a 10% chance that your typical caller will hear it!
What should you do?
Go back to your strategy. What do you want to accomplish? You’ve got the choice: quantity or quality. And if you have lots of messages you really want to give your callers, consider if there are different times of year your callers are most receptive to each, and how changing messages periodically (with message on hold updates) might be the answer you need.
Not sure if you have good reasons to update your messages? Take a look at our “76 Reasons To Update Your Messages on hold.”
Questions about how long should an on hold script be?
Call now for a 15-minute strategy session, or click here to register, and answers that you can use today. In New York call 212-355-6980. In Connecticut call 203-655-3920. Nationwide and in Canada call 800-862-8896
The Informer develops the most effective on hold systems with custom written on hold scripts, recorded by top voice over professionals, and mixed with telephone hold music in the background. We make giving your callers information easy on hold, with the proactive on hold service that keeps your messages focus, productive, and updated all year long in Connecticut (Stamford, Norwalk Hartford, Bridgeport, Danbury and across the state), New York (New York City, White Plains, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and across the state), and nationwide.