To a business that’s never experienced the benefits of well-crafted on-hold messaging, the title of this article might seem a bit over the top. But once you’ve leveraged professional, customized on-hold messaging, the results you see — including improved customer satisfaction and increased profits — make the power of on-hold messaging undeniable.
On-hold Messaging Stats
- Without messages or music, nearly 60% of businesses callers placed on-hold will hang up. Nearly 30% of these callers never call back.
— CNN - 70% of businesses place callers on hold, with an average hold-time of 45 seconds.
— AT&T - A study by US WEST reported that when companies played information on hold, caller retention increased by 40%, inquiries increased by as much as 15% and requests for services increased by as much as 12%. These are some impressive numbers, and they’re all due to efforts made before the customer talks to an actual person.
- North American Telecommunications Association revealed that callers hang-up faster during silence on hold. Callers will hold approximately 30 seconds longer when hearing music, and callers will hold up to 3 minutes longer hearing music coupled with information.
- 88% of callers preferred on-hold messages to other on-hold options, and close to 20% made a purchase based on an on-hold offer.