PH Audio Blog

Hold messages have a bad rep in some quarters. When you listen to the worst examples of music on hold, you can see why.

Sound quality. Music choice. Voice choice. All of these things can make or break an on-hold experience. But something that’s sometimes overlooked is the script. And more specifically, clichés.

In this post, we’re looking at how an overused phrase with good intentions can actually have the wrong effect.

Heard that before?

Clichés are the phrases we know and often hate. They’re the phrases that run a fine line between functional (everybody understands them) and irritating (nobody wants to hear them).

Clichés started out as great phrases that turned hackneyed when everybody started using them. They fast become cheesy, too. Like bad jokes, the worst clichés make you groan and wince.

And if you think of being on hold – of all the times you’ve ever tapped your foot to some anonymous lounge jazz – you’ll be able think of one in particular:

Your call is important to us.

Are you sure it is?

See, the company you’re calling is passionate about customer service. They want to reassure you and keep your business. After all, that’s why they’ve installed hold messages to start with: your call IS important. But because the company’s heard so many hold messages before – and because they think it’s the done thing – they’ll request that their script says:

Your call’s important to us.

And you think, hearing that cliché, that cheese; a phrase that’s well-intentioned but kind of hollow, Well, it can’t be that important.

So at PH Audio, our scriptwriters have found better ways to say it.

Sounding sincere is crucial

You know when you apologise to someone, and they want actions, not words? It’s the same on hold. A company can say sorry all they like, but if you’re waiting on hold for twenty minutes, it’s probably not an apology you want – it’s an operator.

That’s why it’s a good idea to avoid the cheese. Take out the fluff and the stuff your callers have heard a million times over from a million other companies.

Instead of making a call a negative experience, make it a positive one. Tell your callers what you can do for them. Speak to your callers in a way they’ll appreciate. Talk to your callers about things you know will benefit them.

In clichéd terms, add more value to the time your callers are on hold. That way, they’ll know their call really is important.