“One ringy-dingy…two ringy dingy…Have I reached the party towhom I am speaking?” If you're a baby boomer, you probablyrecognize these words from Lily Tomlin's Ernestine character, thezany telephone operator of the 1960s TV hit “Laugh In.”

“Have I reached the party to whom I am speaking?” is relevantfor an agency. Not only is a real person waiting on the other endof the phone, but real money was spent generating the call.
Sales & Marketing Management magazine stated “Ninety-fourpercent of all advertising budgets are allocated toward making thephone ring, but only 6 percent is spent handling the client oncethe call comes in.”
Customers call for a reason. Placing someone on hold potentiallydelays the fulfillment of this purpose and makes the caller feelignored or dismissed. It makes sense to communicate a clear,consistent message when callers are on hold.
Agencies have three options for on-hold messages:
1. Ignore customers by providing silence or meaninglessmessages
2. Entertain customers with music or messages without purpose orintent
3. Market to customers by making the most of thiscommunication.
On-hold marketing can be a cost-effective way to establish acompetitive edge, retain customers, generate leads and providevaluable information to callers.
Statistics
Reports from major communicationscompanies support the value of on-hold marketing. According toAT&T:
o An estimated 70 percent of business callers are put on hold
o An estimated 60 percent of business callers put on hold hangup
oAn estimated 30 percent of these callers don't call back.
North American Telecommunications Assn. reports:
o When faced with silence, callers abandon their calls in less than1 minute and 90 percent hang up within 40 seconds.
o When provided with information, callers stay on the line for upto 3 minutes longer.
A US West Communications study reports:
o A 40 percent increase in retention of callers on hold
o 15 percent increase in inquiries
o 12 percent increase in requests for products and servicesmentioned on hold.
According to Telemarketing magazine, “More than 70 percent ofbusiness callers are put on hold.”
A CNN survey stated that “without music or messages, 60 percent ofthose on hold will hang up and 30 percent won't call back.”
Telemarketing magazine reported, “Surveys show that 15 percent to20 percent of callers make purchases based on information theyheard on hold.”
Better Business Marketing found that “a large percentage of callershang up after being placed on hold. Having a message 'on-hold'system reduces call abandonment by almost 90 percent and increaseshold time by more than 500 percent.” Profitable On-HoldMarketing
Making the most of on-hold marketing is notcomplicated nor expensive. The following ideas are practical waysto communicate a strong protection message when callers are onhold.
Unique Message: When you talk about the samethings as your competition, using the same words in the same ways,you are invisible. Want to measure your agency's uniqueness? Callother agencies in your community and listen to theirmessages.
People stop listening when they know what's coming, so give them amessage worthy of attention. Talk about your agency's compliancewith federal privacy laws, commitment to social responsibility andinstructions for submitting service requests electronically. Youalso might include a “protection question” offering a compellingreason to request a custom protection analysis. Nationwide andState Farm are spending millions of TV dollars with this exactmessage.
Avoid common pitfalls such as reminding customers they are on holdby saying, “Thank you for holding.” This wastes valuable marketingreal estate by telling the caller what they already know.
Another common mistake is focusing on the passing of time. Yourmotives may be noble, but “We apologize for the delay” simplyreminds the person they are on hold.
Timing: Fast speech decreases focus and attention.Callers may feel the message is not worth their efforts if theyhave to try and catch every word. Use a medium speech rate that isneither boring nor too fast.
Timing also includes the length of your message. Determine theaverage length of time callers are on hold. You can run a report toget this information.
Next, determine how much information can be communicated withoutrepeating the message. Messages that repeat and waste valuablemarketing time will probably make the customer tune out the secondtime the message is played. Testing: Maintainrecords to measure the effectiveness of on-hold marketing based oninquiries and sales resulting from your message. Change yourmessage based on trends you discover.
Image: Technology allows any agency to choose theimage it implants in the minds of its customers. Even a smallagency can present the image of having the resources of a muchlarger organization. Are you a formal corporate agency or morerelaxed? Do you want to be known for a specialty or as ageneralist? Invest time to determine how you want the community tothink of your agency and develop the appropriate image for youron-hold marketing.
Tone: Nonverbal communication is as much as 90percent of the communication process. The right voice willcommunicate confidence, trust, honesty and the expectation of aunique customer experience.
For example, tone at a doctor's office sounds differently than at acar dealer. An agency that relies heavily on commercial lines mighthave a different tone than a personal lines agency.
Music: Multiple studies report that familiar musiccan work against a message's effectiveness. When callers sing alongwith the words, they are not listening to the message.
Call to action: A call to action lets the callerknow what you want them to do with the heard information. Alwaysremember to ask for the sale.
Offer free printed materials or a comprehensive protection review.The FBI has excellent information such as preventing identity theftand protecting kids on the Internet. Other resources are www.iii.org and AARP.
Provide the agency's Web site or an e-mail address for respondingto the call to action. Callers might be reluctant to ask for moreinformation if they think the calls will take longer thanplanned.
Finally, set goals for your on-hold marketing. Measurable goals arethe only way to determine success. A little planning and a lot ofcreativity might give your agency the edge to increase bothretention and revenue.