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Posts Tagged ‘Messaging’

Text messaging can be costly and is more often the reason for exceeding cell phone plan limits than voice calling for those with families. On the other hand, text messaging can be less disruptive in some situations than voice calling and can certainly help to keep loved ones in contact. In fact, in a recent study reported by Samsung Mobile, parents and teens reportedly felt their relationship improved and communication increased when teens and parents interacted via text message. For most families however, budget concerns have to take a front seat.

In an informal survey it was found that families take a variety of approaches in controlling the cost of text messaging. At one extreme some families merely report that they don’t use text messaging and, in fact, have cell phones that don’t possess the capability of sending or receiving messages. Voice calling is their primary need and only service. Other families report that texting is used only in specific circumstances, such as when a family member needs to report only that they will be delayed in arriving home or to say “call me”. Such users also report that they have “unknown” callers blocked to avoid any unsolicited messages.

Families that had a higher usage of text messaging reported other approaches. For some, teen usage of the service was a primary concern. To cap usage, parents sometimes had teenagers accept responsibility for text messaging charges that exceed the plan limits while others made use of more restrictive plans to cap usage at predetermined levels. Such restrictions are evident in services such as AT&T Smart Limits and T-Mobile’s KidConnect which cut off text messaging once a monthly cap is reached. Any prepaid service offers such control.

In a few instances, families reported using unlimited texting plans that offer the service for a flat fee which is predictable each month. For example, Sprint offers unlimited messaging which can be added to any of their plans for $15/month. Most US cellular providers now offer unlimited calling and texting plans but are generally appropriate and economical only for those with the highest usage.

A final cost control for text messaging mentioned by some users was the use of free messaging services that can be found online. Services such as textmessage.cc and onlinetextmessage.com are examples. Such services allow users to send messages for free but in generally require the user to send the messages online versus through their cellular provider. The person receiving such messages on their phone then pay the typical fee.

Text messaging can be quick, convenient, and can certainly play an important role in keeping busy families in contact. How families control the costs of such service however is dependent upon their own needs and usage as well as their own creativity.

According to a recent AT&T study, more than 70% of business calls are placed on hold for an average of 45 to 60 seconds each. 60% of the callers placed on hold hang up, and 30% of those that hang up never call back.

The opportunity to reach out to your customers is now!

They are a captive audience, and are eager to hear what you can do for them. While they are waiting, which for some business could be upwards of 10 minutes or longer, you need to keep their interest, keep them happy, and most importantly, retain their call to avoid losing them and their confidence before you can even meet their needs.

By making good use of your on-hold messaging, you will be able to:
– Keep your callers interested – Increase satisfaction levels regarding their experience with your company – Introduce new products or services for potential cross sells – Provide additional information about your company in a friendly manner – Instill trust and assurance that you’ll be with them shortly – Retain your callers while on-hold – Save money by retaining the caller, eliminating the need for them to call again

To really capitalize on your on-hold messaging, alternate courtesy messages with marketing messages.

Here’s a sample of a brief On-hold Script.

On-hold Messaging Script:

Courtesy Message:

Thank you for calling Extreme Sports Gear and Mountain Bikes. We’re glad that you called and appreciate your business. In respect of your time, a customer service representative will take your call shortly so that you can get back to the great outdoors.

Music in between messages for 30 seconds or so appropriate to your listening audience.

Marketing Message:

Are you at our website right now? If so, click on the “Special Offer” advertisement on our home page to take advantage of our Online Summer Sale! Anything listed on our website is 25% off if purchased online. Get in the groove of Summer early and save!

Depending on the average time that your customers are on-hold, your on-hold script length will vary.

For an average system where customers are on-hold for 1-3 minutes, it’s wise to have at least 2 courtesy messages and 2 marketing messages, each message timing out to precisely 30 seconds (:30).

Music should play in between the messages for 30 seconds (:30). This will result in 2 minutes of voice-over and 2 minutes of uninterrupted music play, giving you total of 4 minutes of on-hold messaging.

For systems supporting callers on-hold longer than 4-5 minutes at a time, make sure that your material is kept fresh for your audience, with at least 4 different courtesy messages and 4 different marketing messages.

To accompany the voice-over, music is often used as a secondary track in a voice-over recording. Music can vary throughout or remain true to a theme.

Music should reflect your business and your customer base. If you’re servicing an extreme sports crowd, the music might reflect that culture and encompass a touch of rock, soft punk, or alternative music genres.

Capture this opportunity by sharing your message while your customers wait on-hold. With a powerful on-hold recording and a professional voice talent to deliver your message, you’ll be well on your way to converting callers into buyers.

Companies with multiple locations face an interesting problem when implementing a large-scale on hold marketing promotion: how does one cost-effectively deliver and verify controlled marketing content to isolated systems at numerous remote locations?  The question becomes particularly relevant when you consider the potential value of the on hold airtime of large, multi-location companies.  The qualified reach of the on hold airtime of a nation-wide company can be comparable to that of a nationally syndicated radio program, but at a fraction of the cost.  However, the medium is largely underutilized by these companies due to inherent difficulties in managing large numbers of remote players. While a variety of systems have been developed attempting to address the issue, the technology available for on hold messaging systems has not historically lent itself to efficient content delivery to branches, chains, and affiliates on a large-scale basis. 

CD, cassette, and other removable-media based systems are troublesome and time consuming to operate.  Besides the tendency of mechanical devices to wear out over time, even solid-state devices are problematic.  Any changes in message or music content require the creation and distribution of updates.  Once distributed, employees at some locations may not install the update, may lose the removable media, may install out-of-date content, or may substitute their favorite unlicensed music, which may expose the company to copyright infringement liability and may be offensive to your customers.

Remote upload systems that receive content updates through phone lines offer some advantages over removable media-based systems.  However, remote upload systems are still complicated and inefficient.  Music and message updates take place in real-time (easily more than 10 minutes per location), occupy a phone or fax line during the upload, and have reduced sound quality due to use of an analog phone line for audio upload.

These deficiencies have led most multi-location companies to leave the selection of an on hold messaging service provider to the discretion of the individual locations.  This hands-off approach allieves the burdens associated with centrally managing a large number of players, but leads to inconsistent message content across the organization and a loss of oversight and control.  The net result is the gross underutilization of an important company asset and potential exposure to liability for any copyright infringement or compliance issues on any of the disparate systems playing throughout the organization.

The answer is a system that can draw on the power of the Internet.  Internet based systems allow centralized control of program content and the deployment of custom messages to any number of remote locations anywhere in the world with Internet access.  Additionally, because of the flexibility of web-based management, players can easily be grouped and sub grouped to match virtually any organizational structure, such as geographic regions or business divisions.  Moreover, playlists can be automatically generated and loaded onto net-based players according to schedules.

Such systems are available today and are an invaluable tool for multi-location companies.  On hold airtime is a valuable asset of any company, but the qualified reach of large multi-location companies makes their cumulative airtime particularly important.  Internet based on hold messaging is essential for any company with multiple locations, to allow for the integration of on hold messaging into the company’s overall marketing mix.