Most businesses record an on-hold message once and then forget about it. Months later a caller hears about a winter promotion in the middle of summer, or a staff member who left two years ago. Nothing damages trust faster than a message that is obviously out of date. The fix is not complicated: treat your hold program like any other marketing channel and give it a calendar.
Why a calendar beats a one-off recording
Your callers are already interested in you. They picked up the phone, found your number and decided to wait. That is a warm audience, and what they hear while waiting should reflect what is happening in your business right now. A planned schedule means you update your messages before they become stale, rather than after a customer points it out.
Start with the fixed dates
Begin by marking the dates that come around every year regardless of what else is happening:
- Christmas and New Year closures. Tell callers when you close, when you reopen and where to go for urgent help in between.
- Public holidays. Remember these differ between states. A national business may need separate messages, or one message that simply directs callers to your website for local trading hours.
- End of financial year. June is busy for many industries. It is a natural time to mention bookings, renewals or services that help customers before 30 June.
- Your own peak seasons. A heating business, a tax practice and a travel agency all have very different busy months. Mark yours.
Layer in your marketing
Once the fixed dates are in place, add the campaigns you already run elsewhere. If you advertise a service on radio, social media or in your shopfront, mention it on hold as well. Consistency across channels helps people remember the offer, and callers often ask about something they have just heard while waiting.
Good topics for hold messages include new products or services, changes to opening hours, online tools such as booking or payment portals, and the less obvious services that existing customers may not know you provide.
How often should you update?
There is no single right answer, but a quarterly refresh suits a lot of businesses. It lines up with the seasons, gives you four clear checkpoints across the year and keeps the program sounding current without becoming a chore. Businesses with frequent promotions may prefer monthly updates; others can get by with two or three a year, plus holiday messages.
Keep each message short and useful
A typical hold program rotates several short messages with music in between. Each message should do one job: answer a common question, point to a resource or highlight one service. Long, crowded scripts are harder to follow and more likely to annoy someone who has been waiting a while.
A good habit is to ask your front desk staff what callers ask most often. Those questions make excellent hold messages because they answer the caller's need before a person even picks up.
Don't forget the basics
Whatever else changes, check these details each time you update:
- Business name pronounced clearly and consistently
- Website address that is easy to say and remember
- Correct opening hours and locations
- No references to staff, prices or offers that have changed
A sample quarterly plan
To make it concrete, here is how a simple year could look. In the first quarter, welcome callers back after the holidays and remind them of your core services. In the second quarter, focus on end of financial year and anything time-sensitive before 30 June. In the third quarter, highlight a service that suits the cooler months or your quieter period. In the fourth quarter, promote anything relevant to the lead-up to Christmas and record your holiday trading message well before the office closes.
Let us do the scheduling for you
Media Messages writes, voices and produces on-hold programs for businesses right across Australia, and we can help you plan updates for the whole year so nothing goes stale. If you would like a hold program that keeps up with your business, request a free quote and tell us a little about your calendar.