Have you ever been on the phone to a business or organisation, and placed on hold? If so, you would have heard one of the following…

• Deathly silence
• Radio
• Generic music or bone-chilling chimes
• A Message On Hold, which may thank you for holding, and tell you about the business and its products, with appropriate background music.

Did you know… 7 out of every 10 business calls get placed on hold (Inbound/Outbound Magazine), so what first impression is your business making to those 70% of customers?

Let’s take a look…

The SOUND of SILENCE on hold

Silence while on hold will cause most people to hang up within 30 seconds, as they get frustrated, or worse still, think that they have been cut off!

The RISK of RADIO on hold

When using radio for music on hold, you risk your callers hearing your competitors’ ads. As well as making you look unprofessional, this encourages your potential customers to consider their purchasing options more carefully, and may result in you losing a sale to a competitor!

The AGONY of GENERIC MUSIC or CHIMES on hold

Generic music or chimes on hold make your business seem boring, irritating and painful to deal with!

The MAGIC of MESSAGES on hold

Message On Hold technology provides a unique means of advertising. Similar to the Internet, Messages On Hold are a direct, one-on-one form of communicating with potential customers. The fact that these potential customers are actively seeking further information about your products/business (and have therefore phoned you), presents an enormous opportunity to communicate to a captive audience.

We have 2 replacement message options:

$179 Replacement Message

A high quality, fully customised message (approximately 4 minutes in length), featuring professional voiceover artist (male) and royalty-free background music. Includes checking of your new script by our scriptwriters, and recommendations for improvement if required.

$249 Replacement Message

A high quality, fully customised message (approximately 4 minutes in length), featuring professional voiceover artists (male, female or both) and royalty-free background music. Includes checking of your new script by our scriptwriters, and recommendations for improvement if required.

Regular Replacement Discount

Discounts are available if you update your message 3 times or more per year.

Firstly, contact us for a copy of your existing Message On Hold script (highlighting the changes you want to make on the existing script is the best place to start).

Once you’ve drafted your new script, send it through to us via email. We’ll check it for you, and make recommendations for improvement if required.

We’ll provide a link for you to listen to background music tracks, so you can select the track you’d like (or alternatively, leave it to us and we’ll select one for you).

Once you’re happy with your script and music choice, your message will go to production.

You will then receive your replacement message on a new memory card, so that you can do a straight swap.

Changing the message couldn’t be any easier! Just pull out the old memory card, taking note of which way the card was in the machine, and push in the new card. There is no need to turn off the device while you do this, so there is literally no ‘down-time’.

Place the old memory card in the Reply Paid envelope and send it back to us. An additional Tax Invoice for $25 will be issued if the old memory card is not returned.

And that’s it… message replaced!

We sure do!

Following are 10 tips for successful Message On Hold script writing (click Adobe icon at the bottom of this section to download as a pdf):

1. Be personal
Remember that this is an opportunity to talk directly to potential customers, so make it personal. Instead of saying ‘we pride ourselves on customer service’, take a more personal approach… ‘we will take care of you and listen to your needs’.

2. You Vs We
Aim to have an equal share of the words ‘you’ and ‘we’ in the script. Don’t get so carried away talking about your company and products that you forget to relate it back to the customer.

3. Be polite
Acknowledge the caller’s patience by thanking them for holding, and provide some reassurance that their call is a priority. However, do this only 1-2 times within a 3 minute message. You want the caller to be absorbed in an interesting message, not starting to resent you because you’re constantly reminding them that they’re on hold!

4. Script length
Your script should take 2-3 minutes to read aloud, with minimal space between paragraphs. This will be spaced out during production (to incorporate your backing track and time for the listener to process what is being said), to 3-4 minutes. This is an ideal length, as it is long enough that the caller shouldn’t hear it repeatedly, but short enough that the caller won’t be overloaded with information.

5. Looping flow
Don’t forget that your message will loop, so once it has finished, it will start again. Make sure that the last paragraph flows on to the first paragraph effectively.

6. Frequency of replacement
How often do you intend on replacing your message? If you want to use Message On Hold as a promotional tool to announce specials, new products or events, then you will be replacing the message regularly (eg monthly), as the information will date. On the other hand, if you aim to keep the one message for a long time, it is best to make the message as generic as possible. Avoid anything that is likely to date or change, eg dates, prices, etc.

7. Use a conversational tone
You’re talking to someone (hopefully a customer), so use a conversational tone. For example saying ‘don’t’ instead of ‘do not’ may sound more natural.

8. Make it easy to understand
Avoid using too many big words or lots of ‘jargon’, as the message will be very quickly tuned out. Worse still, you may sound patronizing.

9. Be mindful of word choice
Remember that your message will be playing through a phone line. ‘We have an EXTENSIVE range of products’, can sound like ‘we have an EXPENSIVE range of products’!!

10. Keep it interesting
Using a combination of short, medium and long sentences/paragraphs will help to retain the caller’s interest. Don’t go into too much detail about the history of your business… callers probably won’t find it as exciting as you do!
 

Information to consider and include in your Message On Hold script, if appropriate…

• Your business name
• Website address and information that can be found online (this can free up your phone lines!)
• Trading hours
• Location (directions, landmarks, parking facilities etc)
• Overview of services/products
• Business history/story (but only if it’s very interesting! And don’t go into too much detail, otherwise callers will get bored!)
• Slogan, aim of your business
• Things that differentiate your business from your competitors (your strengths)
• New or lesser known products or product lines.

Download this information in pdf format.

Yes, although the multi-line package is our most popular, the MohJoh Home-Based Business Package is ideal for sole operators or home-based businesses with a single phone line.

What you get:

• MohJoh Message On Hold & Call Attendant System – Australian made, digital device (suitable for single-line phone systems with a standard wall socket), with a 2GB removable memory card
• A professionally produced message (approximately 4 minutes in length), including voice-over by an experienced voice-over artist (male, female or both), and royalty-free background music
• Checking of your script by our marketing department, and recommendations for improvement if required
• 2 year warranty on the MohJoh device

Additional features

The following handy features come standard with the MohJoh Home-Based Business Package:

• ‘Automatic Answer’ feature which answers the phone after 4, 6 or 8 rings, plays a greeting followed by your message, and releases the call from hold when you pick up any phone (very useful if you’re working home alone, and need to duck off to the loo, leaving the phone unattended!)
• ‘Ring Back’ to remind you that a call is sitting on hold.

All this for a once off, low price of $1149!

But don’t forget… our SME Cashflow Friendly Split Payment Option is available, so you can pay 12 monthly installments and split the cost across an entire year.

Email us here for more information.

Yes, all prices listed on this website are inclusive of GST, and Tax Invoices are provided for all purchases.

Southern Xposure is a marketing company, located in Adelaide, South Australia. Our philosophy is simple…

It’s hard enough to find new customers. Can your business afford to let those potential customers who are actively seeking out your products or services (online or offline), slip away? These are the hottest leads possible, but they can turn dead cold within seconds.

You need to impress them; engage them; convert them into sales.

Southern Xposure specialises in helping businesses do just that, via:

• The internet (website design, development, content/copywriting and Search Engine Optimisation)
• The phone (MohJoh Message On Hold)
• The written word.

Contact Southern Xposure on (08) 8326 9000 or email info@southernxposure.com.au, today to arrange a FREE 1 hour consultation.