Why Music-on-Hold should be part of your standard telephony package

Traditionally, Music on Hold has been treated as a great value-add product to core connectivity and voice services. However, a growing number of resellers are now seeing the benefits of incorporating it into their core voice services as a ‘standard’ feature.

The world changed with the onset of Covid-19 and now on-hold messaging is an essential for every business. And while some with channel experience may instantly recoil and think ‘why make something standard, when you could charge extra and increase margins?’ there is still plenty of wisdom in this ‘as-standard’ approach.

Importance of Music on Hold

Now more than ever, businesses need to communicate efficiently with customers so they don’t lose them to others who do. Research shows that 60% of consumers would rather pick up the phone than use other methods of communication.
So, with many teams still working remotely and likely to remain doing so professional on-hold messaging is a must.

For example, take the two recordings below – one is self-recorded by the end-user and the second is a professionally produced audio marketing message produced by Aud Pro for the same business.

BEFORE AND AFTER

The difference between the recordings is night and day. So, ask yourself ‘which company would I rather work with?’ or ‘which recording would I rather my customers use?’. Because at the end of the day, it’s the channel responsibility to leverage its expertise and technical knowledge to best support its clients.

That means ensuring that the end-user experience for customers calling SMBs is vital, but it is also an often-ignored obligation. And the right on-hold messaging will enhance that encounter, positioning the provider as a key part of their operation to ensure customer satisfaction, meaning a lower probability of moving to another provider.

Why offer as-standard?

So, if MoH is such an important aspect to a channel business’ portfolio, why offer it as standard, rather than as a separate service?

Because if you don’t, someone else will!

No business wants to throw away a revenue stream and given how tight margins can be in the channel, it’s doubly important to protect every revenue stream possible. And with such high competition, you can be sure that other providers will be chomping at the bit to get a foot in the door with a low-risk service that helps them build a relationship with the customer and slowly move them away from the incumbent.

But, offering a service as standard doesn’t mean it has to be free, after all. Maybe there’s a nominal charge per recording, or just bespoke messages are paid-for? However, you want to charge is up to you, but getting any customer onboard with a value-add service is an obstacle, so why not do it from day one?

Whether you want to increase the base-cost per month by a small increment or as a quarterly charge is up to you, you could always charge per message if you really wanted. But, by forcing clients to opt-out rather than in, you’ll enjoy far higher uptake from the get-go and can still revisit the service periodically to suggest new recordings for various times of the year, or if the client wants to promote a new product for example.

AudPro gives resellers the freedom to charge its recordings however they see fit – whether one-offs or as a recurring revenue stream – and revenue sharing options are also available to reduce risk. But where AudPro has seen the best success from its partners is when MoH is offered as part of the core service. It shows confidence in the product and its benefits, leading to more repeat orders and much happier customers than without!

Selling strategies

Whether you offer MoH as standard or as an add-on, there are three main milestones where resellers can successfully push a bespoke MoH recording.

During consultation

Probably the most effective way of getting prospects interested in MoH is bringing it up as early as possible in the conversation. Open-ended questions such as ‘How do you feel about your caller experience?’ can help foster a discussion around the topic, rather than a simple ‘do you need on hold messaging?’, which can easily be dismissed.

It’s also important to bring a tangible example, like we’ve included above to show just how effective the right messaging can be. No one likes to be sold promises without proof, so why not create a short example, using their branding to give them an idea of just how good their caller experience could sound!

During installation

When engineers are on-site, installing new connectivity or phone lines for example, they’re seen as a trusted authority, and having engineers remind staff to get their messaging recorded can be a quick win for customers on the fence about whether or not they need an on-hold message. Plus, it may be considered as ‘part of the process’ of the installation, leading to less push-back.

Post-installation

Maybe it’s a courtesy call to check the new fibre line is working properly, or a quarterly catch-up, but Music on Hold should be a topic that is mentioned in as many client interactions as possible, acting as a consistent reminder that their messaging could be updated or refreshed.

This is especially important at the minute, with local restrictions changing regularly and the need for SMBs to adapt opening hours and purchasing processes to keep everyone Covid-safe.

In reality, the best way to increase MoH adoption is a combination of all three methods, with constant reinforcement and broaching the subject with as many decision-makers as possible so it’s seen as a given, rather than an option.

But, even with nearly two decades of experience under our belt, we understand just how hard it can be to bring a new element of your portfolio to life and drive sales, especially within an existing customer-base. That’s why we created the New Partner Toolkit for all our partners, enabling resellers to launch MoH campaigns with little resource required.

Get in touch to learn more about Music on Hold, or check out our calculator to see how much revenue you’re missing out on.