More and more companies are now hiring professional voice talent to record itsphone greetings. The main reason behind this is because of the idea that the initial interaction between a client and a business is the first impression, and the most important one.
The Voice Realm is a voice over casting website where small and large businesses can find and hire professional voice over talent, actors, artists and announcers directly bypassing an agent. Recently it conducted a survey in New York to find out what annoys consumers most when put on hold, why they hang up and what defines their first impressions of a business when they call it for the first time.
Most of the people involved in the survey said that when they are not able to understand what is being said, and when the voices that sounded uninteresting and boring, are the most frustrating part about the calls. Also listed highly was no sound at all. Many survey responders said they simply hung up thinking that the call had dropped.
Businesses have to careful in employing the services of a professional voice actor, which is in fact one of the cheapest parts of marketing, yet has one of the biggest effects. A single call adds a personal connection between the caller and the business.
The Survey also proves that an interesting sounding human voice has been proven to decrease the chances of a caller hanging up when compared to music being played. In addition, companies have to decide their target market and industry before selecting a male or female voice talent.
Casting Agent from The Voice Realm, Danie McPherson , says that females are more likely to respond to another female voice when the business or product relates to anything for the home or family.
“Women simply trust other women. It probably goes back to maternal instincts or a mother and daughter or best girlfriend bond,” said McPherson. “However a male voice is typically used for something that requires authority, such as a warning system or stadium announcements at a sports game. Of course there are the obvious ones like truck commercials or beer television spots.”
The on-hold voice should also be made interesting to hold the callers attention, and clear enough so that every word is understood.