While there are no “Official Spectrio Rules” we do have recommendations that work for a majority of our clients.
Components of an On-hold Production
The goal of each on-hold audio production should be to educate or entertain callers with words, while also giving them time to process the information they heard. Therefore, a good on-hold audio production consists of two parts – voicing and music.
Think about a voice droning on and on for several minutes, moving from topic to topic without stopping. Would you remember anything about what was said at the beginning? Or are you even paying attention after the first 30 seconds?
It’s important to build “white space” into your on-hold production, to give callers the opportunity to take a break and process what they just heard.
Paragraph and Word Count
In order to ensure the highest number of callers will hear a decent amount of information while holding, we recommend clients use approximately 8 paragraphs of scripting, with a 10 to 12 second music interval between paragraphs. The word count could range from 400 to 500 words, depending on the length of your paragraphs.
In general, each paragraph should be 3 to 4 sentences that are focused on a singular topic. Include a call-to-action to help callers understand what you’d like them to do, and get them thinking about other questions they may have about your products or services.
Other Options
If callers will be holding for longer periods, short bursts of voicing and longer music intervals might be better for your company. This can help keep the caller interested, breaking the “monotony” of music with brief but important messages.
And while you might think that music intervals shorter than 10 seconds will be beneficial (hey – the caller will hear more info about our company/specials/products!) short intervals may actually detract from the caller experience because, as we mentioned earlier, the caller will not have enough time to process the information they heard. They are less likely to recall information, and may tune out.
A Great Example
Take a look at a wonderful script example by clicking the following link: ABC FCU on hold script. Note that each paragraph is focused on one topic, the paragraphs are a maximum of 5 (short) sentences, and each paragraph includes a call to action.
Want to hear how that script sounds when it’s been voiced and produced by our studio team? Click the following link to take a listen: ABC FCU on hold audio.
Let us know if we can answer a question for you in a future Q&A blog! Comment below with your question or email us your question here.
Image courtesy of dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net