How On Hold Marketing Reduces Customer Acquisition Cost

What’s your biggest enemy in business? While you might be quick to think it’s your competition – you’re wrong! One of the biggest enemies for businesses is customer acquisition costs (CAC). It’s where the rubber meets the road as they say.

Customer Acquisition Cost, or CAC generally refers to sales and marketing costs that are incurred in the process of acquiring a customer. And, reducing this cost is an ongoing mission for any business that wants to survive and continue generating revenues.

Every marketer knows the cost of acquiring a new customer is five to ten times more than retaining an existing one, and that customer defection is extremely costly. Investors live and die by the saying “you get in what you put out”, and the same holds true when it comes to marketing and retention. You have to  invest in tools that give you the highest returns with less investment, and one the easiest, and least expensive ways you can accomplish both is by implementing an on-hold marketing system.

Here are Three Strategic Ways On Hold Marketing Reduces Your CAC Costs:

1. Focuses On Boosting Caller Conversion Rates

All too often we see companies invest about 96 percent of their marketing budget on generating inbound sales calls, yet only 4% to handle that inbound call. This approach is costly, and simply ineffective.

Sure, when you talk conversion rates, most people would immediately think that equates to converting website traffic. But, conversion rates also means having a focus on converting inbound callers into paying customers. Without on hold messaging, studies show that over 60% of callers will hang-up in under 45 seconds. Even worse is 40% will never call you back, and are likely to call a competitor. A lost call means: wasted marketing spend, lost potential sale, and a lost potential customer.

The smart alternative is to have a message on hold. According to a Google consumer survey, when callers are presented with messaging on hold, they’re willing to wait up to 3 minutes, giving you the opportunity to serve them.

2. Highly Targeted Audience

Have you ever heard the saying: “like shooting fish in a barrel”?   This hyperbolic expression alludes to the fact that fish make an easy target inside a barrel (as opposed to swimming freely in the sea). And, if you’re looking for a highly targeted audience, then there’s no need to look beyond your hold button. 

Callers on-hold are like shooting fish in a barrel. They represent the most highly targeted and interested audience you can ever ask for. They’ve called, which means not only do they already have some level of interest in your offering, but they’re waiting with their credit card in hand, and ready to order.  This  serves as a golden opportunity to up-sell, cross-sell and communicate highly-relevant information to attentive customers about companion products, sales items and promotions, etc.  which leads to increased revenue for the business.

This presents a truly unique marketing opportunity that should not be missed! In fact, a Call Center Today Magazine study shows that companies experience an increase of up to 30 percent in sales of items mentioned in the message on-hold ad.

3. Customer Service and Retention

One of the cheapest ways to get a customer is to not lose one. Hold time remains a source of irritation throughout the world. Sitting in an automated queue for hours on end isn’t a consumer’s idea of good customer service. However, for businesses, leaving a customer on hold is almost inevitable. But it doesn’t have to be a negative experience. On the occasions when customers do need to be put on hold, it is essential to ensure the caller is engaged and entertained to prevent them from switching off and hanging up.

In other words, it’s time to up your telephone customer service and retention game! An annoyed customer who stops using your business is bad enough, but it usually doesn’t end there. They’re not going to recommend you to people. They might even badmouth you to friends or on their blog. There might be annoyed tweets or even an embarrassing moment when they pull their proud announcement of your new product from their blog.

The loss of a customer spreads like a disease and robs you of some of the customers you could have acquired. Annoying a customer is like a bizarre investment. It’s obviously the complete opposite of what you want. So one of the most cost-effective methods of getting new customers is to not go losing customers you already have.  Good customers are a source of continued business and new customers. Annoyed customers are the reverse and you will pay for it dearly.

Closing Thoughts: Customer acquisition is an expensive process, however as discussed by   implementing an on-hold marketing system, you can help lower your CAC, and provide a sustainable strategy for customer acquisition, growth, and long-term profitability.

Please share your own experience, your goals and strategies for lowering CAC, and your questions on the subject in the comments below.