Are You Maximizing This Customer Engagement Opportunity?

Customer engagement can be defined as the experience and touchpoints a customer has with your product and company. It directly effects the emotional connection between a customer and a brand. And,  customer loyalty is largely a result of frequent positive engagement. As the typical consumer wields power with more information and choices, engagement has become the primary channel to ensure that a brand is “top of mind” when a purchase needs to occur.

Why should you worry about whether or not a customer is engaged on the phone? Because customer engagement is built and rebuilt (or destroyed) with every brand interaction, and according to a study by CX Act Inc., the telephone still trumps the web and social media. So, it’s in your best interest to make sure every caller is engaged!

You may think once you’ve gotten them to call the hard part is over, your job is finished, and you’ll easily close the deal. But, a Call Center Today survey shows that over 60% of callers will hang-up before giving you the chance to serve them, so engaging your customer on the phone is the best way to increase your odds of getting a sale and securing a loyal customer.

A potential customer needs to stay engaged throughout the entire sales process to guarantee they’ll contact you in the future when their needs change. Even if a caller doesn’t have an immediate need for your services, they’ll refer your company to friends and family if you engage them well on the phone.

Below Are On Hold Message Best Practices to Keep Callers Engaged, Instead Of Sounding Monotonous!

Don’t Let Your Message Get Stale. Whether music or message, one way to get on a caller’s nerves is to have him hear the same thing again and again. Determine what your longest wait time is and plan enough music or messages to fill that time without looping back. Not only is repetition irritating, it also makes wait times seem longer than they are. Also, change your messages often, especially if your business gets repeat callers.

And Lastly, don’t apologize. Studies show that these kind of apologies actually increase customer frustration, and a recorded apology is even worse because it is impersonal.

Our Final Thoughts:

They say everything old is new again, and that couldn’t be more on point when it comes to devising opportunities for customer interaction. Consumers who are evaluating every purchase want to make safe and sound decisions. So they’re spending their money at businesses, and on products and services, they trust to deliver on every level–from the purchase itself to customer service, low price guarantees and shopping convenience.

A  well executed, strong on hold customer engagement strategy helps to foster brand growth and loyalty.While some companies inflict monotonous tunes on callers, others view hold time as a chance to engage customers with targeted messages. “Anytime you have a captive audience, it’s an opportunity!”