When a caller is put on hold in silence, you not only are missing an opportunity to sell, but you may be alienating your callers. People often feel neglected when placed on hold in silence. Often they are not sure whether or not they have been forgotten or possibly even disconnected. Keep in mind that 90 percent of callers on hold with silence will hang up within 40 seconds. And 34 percent of those callers who hang up will not call back.
Many businesses combat the silence by hooking up their on-hold system to the radio or a CD player.
Unfortunately, this can be risky business. First, it is illegal to play a radio station, records, tapes or CDs on your telephones without paying royalties to the music industry. Second, when playing a radio station, you run the risk of playing your competitors commercials to your customers. Your alternative, then, is to hire a company to do a professional job with your on-hold production. Just make sure the company is equipped to design a system specifically for your company s needs, instead of passing along a general canned program.