On-hold music boosts call centre service level
Abandonment rates could be cut by up to 35% if on-hold music was being played, according to research commissioned by MusicWorks, the business tool aimed at informing businesses of the benefits of playing music.
The research, commissioned by MusicWorks and conducted by Entertainment Media Research (EMR), is the UK’s first comprehensive study of the benefits of music to businesses.
The research revealed that 71% of customers liked to listen to music when on hold, of which:
- 35% admitted they were encouraged to stay on hold longer if music was played
- 50% preferred something soothing or chilled out
- 43% liked to hear something uplifting or energising
A MusicWorks spokesperson said: “Understandably, many call centres suffer from peak periods where it is inevitable that the customer may be put on hold for longer than anticipated. This scenario can cause irritability and impatience in the customer. However, music creates an atmosphere that makes time appear to go faster in addition to offsetting their focus on time, making it a better experience for both the customer and the operator.”
Isn’t it intersting that as an industry where use of this tecnology is widespread we are only now trying to find out if it works? And when we do, rather than examining what people do, instead we merely ask them what they might do (and we know that there can be interesting mis-matches between ’say’ and ‘do’).
How could so many companies do ROI calculations without knowing what the likely impact on abandonment rates, post “on-hold” customer bahaviour, and future contact actually is? The irony is that setting up a study to get this data and then analysing it to determine effectiveness isn’t difficult.
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone actually did a proper study of the effectiveness of music on hold, before companies invest any more money? If anyone is interested, we’d love to help.
Comment by Guy Fielding — 10 Jul 2009 @ 10:56 am