Hold music is one oh those annoying parts of modern life. Everyone has had experience of listening to awful hold music – all whilst wondering just how long they’re going to be kept waiting for! It’s a daily occurrence that fills most people with dread!
Studies have shown that the type of hold music you deploy, can have a huge impact on your customers mood by the time they reach and agent. Some experts have even started to suggest that poor quality hold music is an example of bad service.
So Why Are Companies Getting It So Wrong?
Given the importance that customers place on holding music, why are so many companies so slow to get it right? Some companies, obsessively try to push “cool” music as part of their hold function – mobile phone and tech companies are particularly guilty of this; however, there’s one thing they all tend to miss.
Even if you manage to implement a system that plays a mix of old and new songs, lovingly curated to keep your customers entertained – the sound quality of most phones will likely result in a horrible experience for the end user.
Telephones Are Not Radios
The main issue with hold music, is that phones aren’t designed to playback with the same audio quality as MP3’s, CD’s or even radio. To ensure everyones conversations can travel through the phone network, the audio quality will inevitably be lowered to keep everything running smoothly.
Compare this to a service like Skype, where the audio quality is crystal clear and you could genuinely play a record – hearing every part of the song as the musician intended.
For normal phone calls, this drop in quality isn’t important. Most phone conversations occur within a standard frequency range – anything outside of this isn’t important – and this is exactly what gets cut.
Hold Music, Done The Right Way
To deploy your hold music the right way, there are a couple of simple rules to follow. If you keep in mind the limitations of phone lines, and stick to simplicity – you’ll soon make holding for an agent as pain free as possible.
- Keep it simple – Try to use simple pieces of electronic or acoustic music inside your hold function. Try to avoid overly loud pieces or singing, as this can cause an issue known as clipping. Try to listen to an entire song all the way through before choosing it, listening carefully for loud endings or choruses.
- Keep it licensed – The last thing you need as a business owner is to be hit with a large bill for copyright infringement. If you do use a piece of music, always license it and/or gain the permission of the artists behind it. You can check the status of songs by visiting the PRS Website.
- Listen to the song – And by listen to it, we mean all the way to the end. Some songs will be particularly loud in certain sections – leading to the clipping issues noted above.
- Don’t make assumptions – No, classical pieces don’t always sound sophisticated, and modern pop music won’t always make your brand appear cool too!
Lengthy Hold Times Aren’t Great Anyway!
At the end of the day, lengthy hold times won’t make for happy customers – regardless of the song they listen to. There are plenty of ways to ensure your customers get through to the correct agent for their needs, such as IVR systems or inbound routing.
Another interesting piece of technology, and something that comes as standard with the Blue Telecoms dialler, is a messaging system that lets your customers know exactly where they are in the queue. A customer is far less likely to drop if they know they’re 2nd in the queue.
If you’re not 100% certain what’s achievable with regard to hold music and inbound routing, give our friendly team a call – we’ll be happy to assist you.
