Tailored messages reduce number of customers who hang up when put on hold

BOULDER — Companies routinely spend thousands of dollars in advertising to lure customers to their businesses. Yet when prospective customers call, what happens? All too often, they are put on hold and soon hang up. Many never call back.

Warren Ostergard aims to change that and turn on-hold time into business profit. He owns the Front Range franchise of Profit-Tell, a national company that creates short professional-quality messages that tout a business’ services to customers while they are waiting to talk with a real person.

He’s done so well, with $500,000 in projected sales this year, that he won the top franchise award at Profit-Tell’s annual sales meeting in October.

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The Boulder man acknowledges that no one likes being placed on hold, but he maintains that hearing a useful message while waiting is better than silence or listening to music you might not like anyway.

“Silence or music don’t do anything for the business. An on-hold message provides an opportunity to learn more about the business,” he said. “People are calling for a reason. So when they hear a message about how you can help them, they are way more apt to listen.”

In fact, Ostergard said, people will hold much longer when a company is promoting itself rather than when listening either to dead air or music — and they are also more likely to buy additional products as well.

He cited a survey of 10,000 people, conducted by USA Business Telephone Today, showing that 52 percent of people hung up during a minute of silence while on hold, 13 percent disconnected when hearing music for the minute, but only 2 percent hung up while listening to information.

A Sales and Marketing Magazine study, meanwhile, found that 16 percent to 20 percent of callers hearing an on-hold message bought a product or service because of the message.

“Our messages are devised to be a profit center for a business,” he said. “If we can get the caller to say ‘Tell me more about this,’ or ‘I didn’t know you did that,’ we’ve done our job.”

Ostergard, 29, bought the regional Profit-Tell franchise, covering the major cities along Colorado’s Front Range, 14 months ago. Dave Hearld, founder and chief executive of Profit-Tell International Inc. headquartered in Hinsdale, Ill., said a franchise fee is $19,500, but an investment of $27,350 is required. Of that amount, $3,000 is placed into an advertising account that will used to promote the grand opening of the franchise, about $2,000 of that is for inventory, and about $2,000 is for office equipment such as computers, fax machines and cellphones.

Ostergard liked that on-hold messaging doesn’t target a particular business niche. It’s appropriate, he said, for any business receiving enough calls that customers frequently must wait to speak with someone.

For that reason, Profit-Tell’s national clientele spans more than 300 different industries nationally, and Ostergard’s own customers range from car dealers to restaurants.

Ostergard or his three marketing reps first meet personally with customers to probe exactly what products and services to promote.

The customer order then goes to Profit-Tell’s national office in Chicago, where scriptwriters produce quick snippets designed to hold a listener’s attention, and professional voice talents record the message.

“Every message is dynamic and personal to the business. Nothing is canned,” he said.

Ostergard then installs the appropriate digital equipment in the customer’s office. Companies typically contract for four- or eight-minute message loops, which cost customers an average of $2 to $4 a day.

“On-hold messaging is the ultimate built-in employee,” he said. “It can tell every waiting customer what the company does. But, unlike an employee, it’s never late, never sick and never goes on vacation.”

Area moving company Boulder Valley Transfer installed the Profit-Tell system six months ago. On-hold callers hear the company’s mission statement, packing tip and customer testimonials, interspersed with music.

“Customers tell me that it gives them information they might not get during a short phone conversation with us. This way, they have an idea who we are and how we run our business before they talk with us,´ said owner Paul Wetzelberger.

“It also makes us a ‘player’ in our business,” he added. “It separates us from our competitors, and makes us seem larger than we are.”

Has Boulder Valley Transfer sold additional services because of the messages? Wetzelberger isn’t sure, but remarks “It’s very professional, and people like it. It can only benefit us.”

Though on-hold messaging is Ostergard’s primary product, he also sells Profit-Tell’s “automated attendant” service, which tells callers which menu choice buttons to select to reach different people or departments at a business; complete business phone systems for small businesses needing four to 10 phone lines; and Web-Tell, a new technology that links to a company’s Web site and “makes it talk” with a voice highlighting company services.