EF Fall 07.indd - National Association of Professional Allstate ...

usinessWhen Your Callers are On Hold,Your Business Shouldn’t BeBY AMY CLARKIn today’s advertising-driven society,consumers are inundated with remindersof all the new products and servicesthey need, and businesses are constantlyat risk of having their advertising strategiestrumped by the mega advertising giants.Insurance agencies, one of the mostadvertising-active business sectors, are inneed of innovative marketing plans thataim to more effectively reach their targetaudiences. Television, radio and print adsare designed to drive consumers to call,but what happens when they do call andare immediately put on hold?Enter “on-hold” messaging. With thisoption, an Allstate agency can play customizedsales and marketing messagesfor callers on hold, dramatically improvingcustomer loyalty and sales potential.Since the introduction of the first consumercell phone models in the late 1980s,the average amount of time a person spendson the phone has increased exponentially,making telephone “on-hold” marketingone of the most effective means of connectingwith consumers. A 2005 surveyconducted by news organization CNNsuggests that the average person spends60 hours per year on hold, and the averageU.S. executive reportedly spends 17 minutesper day on hold. A similar AT&Tstudy suggests that more than 70 percentof business calls are placed on hold for anaverage of 45 to 60 seconds per call.Numerous studies have also been conductedanalyzing callers’ behavior whenthey are put on hold. About 90 percentof callers who hear silence while on holdhang up within the first 40 seconds, and30 percent of callers who hang up nevercall back. With music, callers tend to stayon the line an additional 30 seconds, butwhen callers listen to a prerecorded humanvoice while on hold, they are apt tostay connected nearly three minutes beforehanging up.Many agents have tried to addressthe “on-hold” issue by playing broadcastradio. However, playing music on holdrequires the payment of expensive musicroyalties, and agents who neglect payingthese royalties face hefty federal fines.Additionally, playing the radio createsthe risk that a caller will hear offensivedisc jockey language or song lyrics, orworse yet, an ad for GEICO.Savvy agents recognize that there’s amore productive way to handle on-holdtime than with music alone. Allstatehas pre-approved an array of “standard”marketing messages covering all businesslines and promoting the Allstate brand.These messages must be obtained fromone of Allstate’s pre-approved vendors.One such vendor, Applied Media TechnologiesCorporation (AMTC), makesthe standard messages, along with customizedagency messages, available asa library via the Web, allowing agentsto choose which messages they want toplay at any time. When a new messagebecomes available, such as messages promotinga new Allstate product or tyingin with a national marketing campaign,agents can obtain it by simply loggingin and downloading it. No CDs or tapesnecessary, and at no extra cost.While Allstate-branded messages arevery affective, NAPAA encourages agenciesto begin to brand themselves in orderto establish a local identity of their own.According to NAPAA Executive Director,Jim Fish, one of the first steps to creatingyour own identity in your community is tostart with your existing customers. Sincethe majority of insurance transactions aredone over the telephone, it would seemlogical to answer the phone by saying,“Good afternoon, Joe Smith Agency.This is Joe, may I help you?” After hearingthis greeting time and again, customerswill begin to think “Joe Smith” whenthey talk about insurance. Differentiatingyour agency from other Allstate agencieswill give you a distinct advantage. Whensomeone asks your customer who their insuranceis with and if they are happy withthe service, they will say “I’m with the JoeSmith Agency. He’s the best!” instead of“I’m with Allstate and they’re great.” If allthe listener hears is “Joe Smith”, chancesare he will call Joe Smith. On the otherhand, if all the listener hears is “Allstate”,who will he call, the 800 number or anotherAllstate agent?This same branding technique canalso be used with on-hold messaging.Customized prerecorded messages canpromote and reinforce the agency nameor an agent’s individual name. Morename repetition equals more name recognition.It is important to understand,however, that if an agent chooses this option,any reference to Allstate should be54 — Exclusivefocus Fall 2007