Finance

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FINANCE – On Hold Messages

When writing your on hold message, you don’t want to spend this time relating obvious things people naturally expect you to offer or they can find out elsewhere.  That’s not to say covering some of the basics isn’t beneficial, we just don’t want to waste this opportunity by loading it up with light-weight content.  If you think ahead you can maybe cover these basic things – like your range of services, your exact street location, how to find you, where clients can park when they arrive, how you prefer your bookings or payments to be made, your opening times in a single paragraph.  By all means include some of these if you feel it’s necessary – but not to the exclusion of more worthwhile content.

In brief – here is a list of the type of content that works well for a “Finance” related industry:

• Refer to your basic products and services – in brief.
• Highlight current offers and special deals.
• Provide timely reminders (BAS lodgement, Tax, Handy Tips).
• Reassure your clients by mentioning your industry accreditations.
• Highlight any specialised expertise and experience.
• Mention any industry awards you may have won.
• Prove you’re local by mentioning your community involvement
• Can you offer any training or information to your clients.
• Let clients know how to find you easily.
• Clarify your fees up front.
• Focus on the benefits offered on your website. (tools or useful articles)
• Highlight positive customer feedback.
• Mention your turn-around times.
• Refer to any guarantees and assurances you offer.
• Focus on what makes you different from other accountants?

When it comes to the writing the meat and potatoes of your message, here are some worthwhile questions to ask yourself…

What value can I provide my clients?

What would I like them to know about me that they don’t already know?”

Do you have expertise in any specialised field of accountancy?

Are there any particular industries that you can cater for that stand you out from the crowd?

Do you provide for your client needs in a way others don’t (your location, speed, capacity)?

Have you recently won any industry recognition?

What’s changed in the accountancy field that you can bring people up to speed on?

Are there any specific seasonal activities that a reminder may be useful for – tax time, reporting responsibilities and the like?

What about taking your most commonly asked questions and pre-empting them with some helpful tips and tricks?  You know – “Here at Smith Finances we often get asked – what’s the best way to keep track of so and so… we find the easiest way to do that is… and so on”.

How can you ensure you’re providing value for your callers?  How are you rewarding them for making contact?

What value does your website provide?

Do you have any tools or calculators on your site that would be worth drawing your caller’s attention to?

What customer feedback have you received that you could subtly point to?

What useful links or articles are no your site that can benefit your clients?

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So jotting down the answers to these questions will provide a solid foundation for a very powerful and purposeful on hold message.  One that will benefit your callers, increase their satisfaction with you and also improve the opportunity for you to expand your activities with them.

Your on hold message speaks volumes to a captive audience, so use it to keep them informed, motivated and reassured.  Time may be money, but it’s also a golden opportunity you’ve been given to provide something of value to your callers and something that shows you appreciate that their time is important.  Being in the finance field – you are known for your attention to detail and keen focus.  Extending this to your on hold message only serves to strengthen that image.

To sum up things then, if you put a little effort and forethought into it, you can have full confidence that when you press that on hold button on your phone system, your callers are going to feel respected, that you value their time enough to provide excellent tips and thought out content that they can derive immediate benefit from.  And leave them with a very fine impression of yourself.

When used well, an on hold message:

• Enhances your image.
• Ensures your clients are well aware of your key points.
• Upsells your clients to other services you provide.
• Answers commonly asked questions.
• Sets your clients’ minds at ease – reassuring them they’ve come to the right place.