Do you play dull, rubbish ‘on hold’ music for your customers that is just well and truly pants? Or perhaps you don’t play anything at all for your callers whilst they wait on hold.
Well, your customer communication could be skating on very thin ice.
(Just like this little fella here)
Written by Red Edwards
In the fast-paced world of business, nothing is more tedious than being stuck on hold, right? And to make matters even worse- the ‘on hold’ music that’s played in our ear whilst we wait can be utterly dreadful.
Trust us, we know
‘On hold’ music is something that many businesses don’t tend to pay enough attention to; we’ve all been guilty of it at one point, we’re sure. But we are now in a world where remote working is the new norm, and this can only mean one thing- way more phone calls!
Thanks to talkroute.com, we’ve discovered that ‘on hold’ music can make or break a customer connection- for almost 40% of customers on the line begin to become frustrated after just a minute and a half and, if that wasn’t bad enough, many customers even end the call after two minutes on the line when the ‘on hold’ music and messages are dreary and pants!
And, by pants- we mean thoughtless elevator music that can make minutes seem like forever; you know the ones…
The history of hold music
Hold music was originally created by Alfred Levy in the early 1960’s. Alfred was a factory owner and discovered the potential of hold music when an exposed wire within his telephone system was picking up the radio broadcast that was taking place next door. This made the building a giant receiver, so that the audio broadcast signal from next door would then transmit through the loose wire and could then be heard when calls to Alfred’s company, were placed on hold.
In 1966, Levy patented his work, and this initial patent creation began the evolution for todays hold music that we are all familiar with. Since the creation of hold music, hold messaging has also grown and became increasingly popular with businesses. This is where businesses play pre-recorded messages over the music to promote their services, news or just to thank customers for waiting in the telephone queue.
The psychology behind ‘on hold’ music and waiting
We’re all human, we have all experienced many tough phone calls in our working lives, but we have to say- nothing is worse than being placed on hold with dull, lifeless ‘on hold’ music- like the kind you’d find in an elevator as you await your descend to the ground floor.
It’s the worst, isn’t it?
There is some psychology behind hold music. Time is a huge factor for customers and time feels significantly longer than it actually is, two minutes on hold can feel like 20 minutes, when in fact the average hold time for a phone call is 45 seconds.
When you have customers on hold, it is critical to act quick as they can lose patience and may result in not resolving their problem. Hold music is an ideal solution, instead of leaving customer in an empty silence, if you have to step away from the phone.
Playing popular pop songs on average, provides a better on hold experience for customers rather than listing to dull, continuous ‘elevator music’ which tends to frustrate callers even further.
Playing a recognisable or uplifting song while your customer is on hold helps them relax and become calm while waiting, this is a small feature that can help your customers resolved their issue.
Structure is also important to the customers on hold experience. You need to ensure that the music and messages are structured and do not clash or play at the same time, this could make for painful listening and drive customers to hang up.
Why you should consider incorporating hold music to your customer services
It has been reported that around 60% of customers prefer to call businesses, rather than contact them over email or social media as many still perceive this as the quickest way to contact the business. If over half of your customers are wanting to contact you via phone, this means that your phone operators and on hold system needs to be positive and engaging to resolve queries and provide a high levels of customer care.
More importantly, 90% of customers will hang up after 40 seconds if they’ve been confronted with silence and over 30% will not call back. This shows how important it is to have either someone answer the phone instantly or have an automated message telling them that they are in a queue and will be dealt with shortly. This can be critical for businesses in competitive markets as every missed call is a lost opportunity, a small change such as hold music or automated messages can really make an impact.
So, how do we keep customers sane whilst on hold:
The most effective trick to keep customers sane whilst on hold is to, of course, have familiar music playing in the background, such as these top 10 catchiest tunes for being on hold, all whilst making certain that the callers receive frequent status updates, ie: “You are currently 4th caller in the queue. We appreciate your patience.”
Providing a human approach to the call is also a feature that will help customers while they wait. Either having a brief message that thanks the customer for their time and patience or providing news updates and marketing updates can provide the human touch and make the customer feel valued for their time.
The main reason customers get frustrated when being left on hold:
- Perceived time: A crucial part of the ‘on hold’ experience is the customers’ perceived waiting time, because time is exceptionally valuable and if a customer is to perceive their time on hold as excessive, then they will often hang up. There are factors around this, and there are ways to make time stuck on hold seem a lot shorter.
- Sound levels: There’s nothing worse than sitting ‘on hold’ and having your ears blasted by loud music. This is a factor that can cause a customer to hang up or become more frustrated, especially if their problem hasn’t been dealt with. You will need to consider the volume of the music played whilst customers are ‘on hold’ to ensure it is at a suitable volume and won’t provide customers with an unpleasant experience.
- Unclear music or messages: Alongside sound levels, if your hold music is unclear or grainy this may also put customers off and cause them to hang up. If you play messages during the music, you will also need to ensure that these are clear and can easily be understood.
- Tone of music: When selecting an ‘on hold’ song you will need to select a song that is suitable for all types of enquiries and situations. Playing a song that doesn’t fit a customer’s situation may aggregate them further and could cause them to hang up.
Here’s what you can do to ensure the best ‘on hold’ experience:
- Ensure that all hold music is reviewed regularly, updated when required or becomes dated and that all audio messages are clear and understandable. This prevents any confusion.
- Get rid of ‘dead air’: Eliminate silence and avoid ‘unoccupied’ time as this makes time seem to drag on for what feels like hours.
- If possible, provide customers with an estimated wait time and this allows them to evaluate their time and ensure they have enough time to wait before speaking to someone
- Fill the space with content- ie, music, messages, ‘explained waits’- these are very favourable for the holding caller as they are put at ease, especially with ‘explained waits’. Who doesn’t love to know their time is valued?
- Intersperse the hold music with news snippets such as sports, weather and entertainment. These can be uploaded each day and can provide a useful snippet to your customers while they wait.
- Choose the right kind of music! Studies show that choosing to play familiar pop songs, keeps the callers holding more comfortably, and for longer, than that of elevator music that was whiney and uncommon, which led to callers hanging up in under two minutes of waiting.
- Review messages regularly, your customers don’t want to hear the same old messages and offers your business may have. Switching this up provides a new and fresh experience for customers.
- Ensure that the total length of the on-hold music is far greater than the average wait time. This is important and prevents your customers from hearing the same song over and over, this can easily drive a customer to hang up.
Do I need a license to play ‘on hold’ music on my phone system?
In short, the answer is yes. If you want to play popular music; the songs that the callers will know and love then- yes- you will need two licenses:
A Public Performance License (PPL) and a Performing Rights Society License (PRS).
These licenses will allow you to play any type, style, or genre of music: The PPL license ensures that the royalties paid to performers, such as the artist or orchestra that created the recording/ music, and the PRS license makes certain that the royalties are all sorted for the composers of the music and lyrics.
If you do not want to fork out and go the trouble of obtaining licenses, then fear not- because there are other options, such as royalty-free sites that provide a bunch of free & low cost, hassle-free sounds to play on hold, like:
- 1) Melodyloops.com, a site that offers an array of genres and styles of music for you to download instantly and you can download wav files for a wide variety of phone systems and requirements, so you’re bound to be covered for your businesses’ current system.
- 2) Classical music: Believe it or not- many classical pieces of music do not require a license and that is because copyright on written music expires 70 years after the composer has died. Basically meaning that if the composer of a piece of music died before 1944, you won’t require a PRS licence, and you’re all good to go.
So, if you’ve ever wondered why you’re so used to hearing classical melodies being blasted down your ear whilst waiting on hold- you now have your answer.
Contact us today!
If your business needs a hand with its hold music and phone systems, we can help you with our own telecom services! To find out more about our services, please contact our friendly team today and we’ll be happy to discuss your requirements and how we can help!