Call centers have become a reality of our lives in recent years. All brands, from the largest to the smallest, conduct a significant part of their relations with their customers through these call centers.
Those who call call centers to talk to customer representatives, wait on the line for minutes as soon as they pick up the phone. call center agrees to listen to the music.
well this music Did you know that your business is an industry valued at billions of dollars?
26 DAYS OF EVERY YEAR ARE wasted
Today, we spend more time than ever waiting to receive service on the phone. A survey conducted just before the pandemic showed that UK residents wasted 26 days each year, with the biggest culprit being having to wait on the phone.
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Recent analysis shows that hold music will nearly double over the next decade, with revenues rising from an estimated $1.9 billion to $3.5 billion.
And all the background music is not just about making you wait. For example, in a luxury restaurant food when you eat, your bites are accompanied by elegant music.
Since it emerged with the influence of the US military, background music aims much more than filling the silence: manipulating moods. The melodies we listen to while waiting on the phone today aim for such an advanced level of control.
Music no longer just wants to conquer us, but to shape us according to its own will.
HOW DID IT APPEAR?
This genre of music was born exactly a century ago, in 1922, when George Squier, a respected member of the US Combat Corps, developed a way to broadcast cable music. Just as photography was mass-marketed by Kodak, Squier will do the same for music. Muzak decided to be.
Muzak’s primary purpose was not entertainment. It was marketed on the idea that specially tailored sound waves could increase productivity in offices and factories and persuade customers in stores to linger and buy more.
As the demand for this type of music declined in the 1960s, a new industry emerged: hold music.
This market was born out of the need to give callers a sense of confidence that they were not forgotten in the face of ever-increasing phone traffic. For this reason, the patent granted to Alfred Levy in 1966 for the ‘Holding System’ suggested playing music to calm the caller if the delay was too long.
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AN OPPORTUNITY NOT TO MISS
But since then, hold music’s goals have gone far beyond filling the void and reassuring people that they are not forgotten. The decline continued until Muzak filed for bankruptcy in 2009. But instead, many companies have emerged who think being put on hold is an opportunity not to be missed.
Among them is PHMG, which was founded with a staff of two in Manchester in 1998 and now has thousands of customers in 54 countries. The company isn’t just holding music, it’s what they call ‘a complete experience for the caller’ offers.
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IT SHOULD NOT EXCITE THOSE AT THE END OF THE PHONE
Doing this well isn’t as easy as it sounds, according to Rob Wood, co-founder of one of the companies that specializes in creating voice signatures, speaking to The Telegraph. “The most important thing to think about is ‘What’s the point of putting someone on hold?’ should be a question. Usually a call center has a certain capacity. This is why companies say they will digitize and automate the process as much as possible. We want this process to be as pleasant and stress-free as possible for our customers.”
Just any song is never enough for hold music. The phones deliver very low quality sound through undersized speakers. So complex notes or complex orchestral music; it can become hard, scratchy and even vague. Therefore, the use of simple music is more common.
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Of course, there is also the matter of tempo… “Ideally listening to something very relaxed and slow,” says Wood. “Because people get stressed while waiting and they don’t want to wait. For this reason, they should not be over-excited.”
A TOOL OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MUSIC, BRAND AND CONSUMER
Managing partner of a music company Selim KaynakSaying that, like sugary drinks that mix quickly with the blood, music also acts as a shortcut in the communication between brands and consumers.The critical question here is which music will be used with what sound system and at which volume for which type of employee or customer.” he said.
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SHORT MELODIOS ON LONG WAITING CAN FURTHER THE CALLER
The length of the music is as important as its tempo. For example, if the average wait time is seven minutes, looping a two-minute tune can infuriate callers. Wood states that the methods of making callers wait no longer deserve to be seen as ordinary music at the level of sophistication it has reached today.
Wood, a former DJ, says that while his job is concerned with ‘the mood of those on the dance floor in front of him’, hold music is the same thing, the only difference being the globalization of scale.
CUSTOMERS BECOME THEIR OWN DJS
So much so that recently, a famous technology company took action after its customers complained of poor quality sound. The company lets its customers listen to songs from their own playlists while they wait and let them become their own DJ.
The hold music makes some songs shine. In 2015, HMRC’s guitar-played “jazzy” song was listened to by the British public for approximately 4.7 million hours. That’s more than the most streamed pop songs that year.
Unfortunately, the familiarity with some songs also created just intolerance for the listeners. As Wood admits, even a century after Muzak’s invention, “If you get it wrong, waiting continues to annoy people.”
So which sectors prefer what kind of music in Turkey?
TRANSITION FROM POP MUSIC TO HIP-HOP MUSIC
Underlining that music preferences have changed over the years, Kaynak said:In the ready-to-wear sector, while the preferences were concentrated in local and foreign pop music 10 years ago, hip-hop music is preferred predominantly now. In addition, the music used in the advertising campaign is also among the preferences. The preference of banks and energy companies is orchestral music that underlines their corporate aspects and emphasizes the feeling of trust.” he said and added:
“On the other hand, call centers’ preference for waiting music is lower-tempo, relaxing, instrumental music.. As a genre, we can say that pieces that evoke chill out, lounge or summer vacation are in the foreground. It is also very important to have melodies that will weaken the time perception of the waiting customer and evoke good memories.”
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