Reduce holiday stress with a hosted phone system. Your business phone can be a valuable tool to create a moment of enjoyment for your customers. A SelectCom system has several features to help you accomplish this.

If the holiday season is a busy time for your business, keeping up with phone calls might be more challenging. With a hosted phone system:

• Auto-Attendant acts as a virtual receptionist, “answering” every call and directing it to the appropriate extension.
• Find Me Follow Me, Call Forwarding & Simultaneous Ring ensure that every call is answered even if a line is busy or you’re out of the office.
• Call-Back is an automated service that gives callers an option to receive a call-back (a return call) instead of waiting on hold. When a live agent becomes available, the next caller in the call-back queue can receive their call-back. This can completely eliminate long hold wait times and lower abandon rates.

Even with these convenient features, putting a caller on hold is sometimes unavoidable. The trouble during the holidays is that patience is at its yearly low, so making this necessary evil less unpleasant should be a priority for your business.

Turn Time on Hold into Customer Satisfaction

The most annoying thing to hear while waiting on hold is, “Your call is valued,” concludes a study described at Independent. 47% of people found this phrase most irritating, while 28% thought being directed to a company’s website is worse, according to Charlotte England’s article. 

SelectCom’s Music-on-Hold and Messages-on-Hold features can make the difference between keeping your customer on the line and losing them forever. 

Music-on-Hold

It might not be intentional, but callers typically make some association between your business and the music you have on hold. 

Have you ever experienced sudden ear-splitting abrasive music when put on hold? Were you forced to listen to obnoxious tunes while waiting on a customer support agent? It seems insensitive, like the business is clueless about what you’re experiencing. 

Don’t be that business. Think about your customers and their situations and select music that seems appropriate. For the holiday season, SelectCom has a selection of royalty-free instrumental holiday music available. 

Messages-on-Hold

In addition to customizing your hold music, the Messages-on-Hold feature gives you another opportunity to cater to the needs of your customers this holiday season. You can record a custom message to be played before your hold music. 

Your on hold messaging can inform callers of modified business hours over the holidays or announce seasonal promotions and holiday deals. Make it a more personal greeting. Thank them for their patience during this busy time and wish them “Happy Holidays”. 

Maximum Customization

Music-on-Hold and Messages-on-Hold is configurable for individual queues, users, or domains. This flexibility allows for a highly customized caller experience. For example:

• Your main line could inform callers of your location and modified holiday hours of operation.
• Your sales line could play a message highlighting seasonal promotions and holiday specials.
• Save everyone time by using the message to prepare callers for the upcoming conversation – “Please have your account number ready.” 

Get your business ready for the holiday season. Reduce holiday stress by setting up your hosted phone system. For help with customizing your Music-on-Hold or Messages-on-Hold, or for information about other features to help you manage calls during the holidays, contact a SelectCom agent today.