During the holiday season, many businesses find themselves busier than they are at any other time of year. Orders are pouring in, and along with those orders come a variety of questions and complaints that tie up the phone lines. While many retailers hire extra staff to help with the increased demands of the holiday season, there will likely still be increased hold times. To help avoid customer frustration, it’s important to record professional holiday messages for your phone line’s hold message.
Include voice prompts to allow customers to take care of business through self-service. During the holiday season, it’s even more important to remind customers that while they can certainly wait to speak to a live person, they may experience longer hold time. Make sure that this is part of your automated message. Consider including the information your customers will need to complete the call or offer call back feature if they don’t want to wait. Customers who are frustrated by the waiting process are more likely to decide that your product or services aren’t worth the trouble–and that means they don’t be using you next time.
Keep your message professional and easy to understand. Just like there are longer lines at the stores, let your customers know when the wait times will be longer, and let them know why the delay is necessary. Make your message clear, even if it’s going to repeat. That’s where professional recording comes in handy: when you use a professional to record the message, not only will you know it’s done right, but the preceived time the caller is on hold will feel reduced.
Remember that the holidays are stressful for everyone. Your customers are likely on a tight budget, short on time, and trying to juggle too many responsibilities in their effort to make the holidays happen for their families. Use your hold message to wish them happy holidays and improve their mood while they wait for a customer service representative. Most of the time, this will help improve customer mood and make it easier for them to wait until someone is available. Frustrated callers will take out their stress and anxiety on your customer service representatives. Friendly seasonal messages with traditional music will keep the callers entertained and on the line ready to do business.
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