Caveat Emptor—“buyer beware”—definitely applies if you are searching for a reputable company to provide you with Customized On Hold Messages and Music. Your company image while customers and potential customers are on hold is at stake. Take a couple minutes to read the following then apply what you learn. It will be worth your while.

There are a number of businesses who have been around for years that should be your first choice. If they didn’t provide good customer service they would have gone out of business long ago.

On the other side of the coin there are always new, little companies that spring up when a DJ gets fired from a small town station and suddenly decides he or she can make a fast buck doing On Hold Messages. The biggest problem here is that as soon as that person gets a new job at a radio station 500 miles away you can be forgotten as a customer. You won’t get calls quarterly asking which of your messages you would like to change. You won’t get new music on a regular basis to freshen up your sound. You won’t get calls monthly checking on the quality of your messages. When you want to change your messages or add another location you’ll have a tough time finding that supposed on hold provider. Frequently these little companies don’t invest in quality studio equipment or in state of the art equipment to hook up to your phones. What suffers? Your image when you put people on hold.

Some people simply throw a radio on hold or purchase a multiple CD changer to play CDs over the phone. The caution here is that both are illegal. There are two licensing agencies that represent artists, composers and publishers to protect their intellectual rights. They are ASCAP and BMI and neither has ever lost a case when taking businesses to court for illegally using music from a radio or from CDs. Also, radios have a tendency to float off the station leaving a muffled, distorted signal for callers to endure. Worse yet, your competitor might advertise on radio!

One other option people think saves money is to use generic messages. They simply say “Thank you for holding” or “We value your call. Please hold.” The messages don’t give the business name, address, website address, hours, or any other actual information about the business. There is little variety and if someone is on hold for a minute or two the generic messages get old fast. A business is really wasting valuable hold time when they could be telling customers and potential customers about what they have to offer.

When you shop for an on hold company the ideal relationship will be to have a personal representative assigned to handle your account. When interviewing a company ask how long the person has worked for them. Ask them questions about their services to make sure they know what they are talking about.

I can’t caution you enough on this point. Listen carefully about long term contracts. There are companies that require three, four or five year contracts. From my perspective if I can’t provide a service level that makes a customer want to stay with me, I shouldn’t be in business. If I were in your shoes I would insist on a 30 day written notice and you are out of your contract. Also ask if you have to purchase equipment to hook to your phones or do they provide it. If they provide the equipment they will replace it if anything goes wrong. If they claim they are using state of the art equipment make sure it is digital.

Ask the provider what kind of discount you get if you pay in advance for a year at a time. My accountant tells me that a 10% discount is worth it. Also, ask what kind of discounts you will get if you have multiple locations. 

One plan does not fit all for on hold messages. The on hold companies you talk to should offer different change options. Some businesses must change their messages monthly to keep up with their industry. For most businesses quarterly changes are sufficient. Some businesses change their messages twice and year and a handful only need annual changes. Get the different rate plans for these changes. Don’t get roped into something you don’t want and don’t need. You can always upgrade to a more frequent plan down the line if you need. Something tells me if you try to downgrade plans you would run into resistance with most providers.

What do they have extra charges for? Do they charge for holiday messages? Do they limit the number of messages you can have at any one time? Do they charge you if they write messages for you. An on hold provider worth his salt will have his copy writers create professional messages for your approval.

Pay attention to each of these points…feel good with the representative you are talking to…and you’ll probably wind up with a long term relationship that you are comfortable with and improves your customer image and keeps customers happy while they are on hold.

Terry Richard is the owner of Good Impressions Inc and provides customized on hold messages and music to more than 550 locations around the United States. He can be reached at (360) 225-9080 or goodimp@pacifier.com 

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