On-Hold Messages Using Humor? - It's Serious Business!

Chances are, the last time your customers called your business and got put on hold they didn't think it was very funny... but they could have. If you currently play messages-on-hold at your company - and if you aren't, you should be - there are several reasons why you may consider threading-in at least an occasional bit of humor or trivia.

A good on-hold message program communicates vital sales-related information on your products and services, conveys customer care to your callers and is easy to listen to. Customized message-on-hold programs have been shown to increase sales, improve a company's image and retain callers longer and with far better results than silence, radio or music only.

So, combining all of these elements gives you a great program. But, you have to hold the interest of your callers or even the best messages will go in one ear and out the other. Companies using messages that contain a little comic relief or industry-related trivia have reported that their callers actually ask to be put back on hold to continue listening.

Let's establish something right up front: There are some situations where using humor or even trivia on-hold will not apply. You know your callers. They may be most responsive to the standard, straight-ahead approach. If that's working, don't try to fix it!

Here are some things to consider that will help determine if your business is a candidate for using humor or trivia on-hold:

First, think about the products and/or services you sell. If you sell life insurance policies, provide legal services, or you're fielding calls for customers who have a complaint or a problem with a product, etc., common sense tells you that the overall tone of your on-hold messages needs to be more reassuring. Not necessarily stuffy, but humor just simply won't work there.

However, where a spot or two of humor or a trivia tidbit is warranted and is both tasteful and clever it can bolster respect for and confidence in your company as an industry leader.

Secondly, and most importantly think about your callers. Ask yourself what frame of mind your callers may be in at the time they call your company. Perhaps they may have been "putting out fires" of their own all day. Create just the slightest diversion from the fast track they've been on and they'll relax a little.

Now, when you share your sales information with them they're bound to be more receptive, more likely to listen to what you're saying. And, consequently they'll be more comfortable asking questions and conversing with your salespeople. That sounds like more sales, doesn't it?

Let's not get ridiculous. The humor and/or trivia in your messages need to support your products, services and company values. If you stray off - either into the inappropriate, the offensive or simply get too disconnected - your messages will work against you. So make sure your on-hold message producer keeps the promotion of your company image at the core of the script.

The point is that there is no reason you can't deliver some serious communication about your products while callers enjoy a brief, innocent escape from the standard pressures of the workday.

Have a competent message-on-hold production company try it as a mix, tossing in a humor or trivia segment now and then. Or maybe even more. Perhaps your callers will begin to see your company as a refuge from the mundane or the stressful.

Don't worry. As I mentioned, if the humor/trivia is done right your callers will not only continue to take your company seriously, they'll probably discover the "human side" that so many consumers feel is missing, making them feel better about doing business with you. And that would be a really good thing!

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