Category

On The Phone

May 27
0

What makes a brand?

By | Blog, Digital, In-Store, On The Phone

The question “what makes a brand?” seems so incredibly straightforward, but actually, the answer is the cause of much debate. It leads to a series of sub-questions, such as:

What is branding?
What does branding do?
What does it achieve?
What are the direct benefits of good branding?
What is a good example of a “brand”?

More often than not, the beauty of successful brands lie in their simplicity. For example, you couldn’t get much simpler than a tick, yet Nike have turned it into the symbol of a global empire. That leads to further questions:

Is the tick an example of branding, or is it just a logo?
What’s the difference between the two?
Can a logo be a brand?

That’s actually a more complicated question than you might think, but in general, a logo needs at least two more things to be considered a brand.

The first thing you need is a slogan, and continuing to use Nike as an example, they went with the phrase: “Just do it!” That’s it. Three simple words that anybody could have come up with, but what do these words actually say?

They say you can do it.
They say you should do it.
They say you need to do it – it being sport.

They want you – the potential consumer – to feel like you can achieve great things through sport. The tick is a psychological device to make you feel better after exercising and you might notice they often incorporate nature’s elements within their evolving logo (fire, water, etc) to indicate you can “just do it” whatever the weather.

Some people would argue that Nike have become such a powerful company that the tick alone is a brand. That may be so now, but it wasn’t the case in the beginning.

Finally, to transform into the company they are today, they needed to add a third very important, but often overlooked, ingredient – tone.

If you’ve dealt with an agency, you would have heard the buzzwords “Tone of Voice” a lot, and that’s because getting the “ToV” right for your company is an essential part of marketing. Without a solid Tone of Voice, the messages created in separate areas of your business will appear disjointed, and how do you expect to win a customer’s loyalty if they don’t recognise who they’re communicating with?

Whether it’s the language you use on your digital channels, the messaging you display in your store or the customer journey provided on your telephone system, it all needs to sound and feel the same.

Logo + Slogan + Tone = Brand.

Overlook a single one of these and your brand will always feel incomplete, but master them and your customers will want to communicate with you on every level.

May 16
0
5 ways to make your telephone journey great

5 ways to make your telephone journey great

By | Blog, On The Phone

If you’re a company who receives high call volumes, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword – good that you’re so popular, but bad because keeping callers happy in a queue is a bit of a challenge.

You’ve likely heard statistics banded around like:

  • 90% of customers feel fed up by the end of the call
  • 60% of callers say they find IVR systems “deeply frustrating”
  • 30% of callers inexplicably hit random buttons or hang up

Here’s the thing: nobody likes being on hold. Everybody’s time is precious, and they don’t want to spend it listening to dreary empty promises or second rate elevator music. They hate being told their call is important to you because, if it was, they’d be speaking to somebody already, and the tone of your IVR will influence your customer’s mood, directly affecting how they communicate with your call agents.

We all know this, yet so many brands let themselves down by having poor quality messages that lead customers on a confused journey. Sometimes companies get so inundated with calls that they even lead their callers to a dead end, knowing the call will be disconnected – and we’re not even joking!

1. Set the tone

Your company’s tone of voice needs to be consistent throughout every avenue. Remember, the customer journey doesn’t start when they reach your agent, but from the moment they dial your number. Being aware of why your customers generally call allows you to provide messages appropriate to their mood, because coming across as super happy when your callers’ needs may be sensitive, or vice-versa, could risk offending them.

2. Make it easy

If you have a list of 17 different options, the chances are your callers will randomly swipe at buttons in frustration. This will take them to the wrong department, which will waste man-hours to discover what they want and then redirect them. Instead of this, take the time to make sure you offer the right options that land callers to the right place at the first time of trying. Also, if it’s possible for the caller to self-serve online, make sure they’re acutely aware of it, but give them an option to stay on the call if they still want to speak to someone.

3. Be consistent

Ever been on a call where each message is voiced by somebody different? By the time you get through to a person, it can feel like you’ve been on a real journey, which can make you feel fobbed off and mentally exhausted. Unless there’s a good reason to have more than one voice for your audio messages, be consistent so that the caller feels a sense of familiarity whilst on hold, helping them feel more at ease.

4. Maintain your standards

There is little worse than hearing audio messages from members of staff who sound like they have stage fright with a whole load of background noise in the background. What kind of message does this send about your company? Are you likely to entice new clients if you appear like you cut corners? Crisp sounding audio read by professional actors makes the world of difference, and something as simple as the wrong inclination within a word can be the difference between a customer being happy or taking their business elsewhere.

5. Be creative

Customers understand that due to high call volumes, they’re likely to have to hold for a little while. Generally, they’re absolutely fine with that as long as they don’t have to wait for excessive amounts of time or continuously repeat the same information. Therefore, why not use the time they are on hold to assert your brand personality and, dare we say it, have a little fun? For example, we installed the song Love Train on the customer complaint line at Virgin Trains, and many callers admitted it made them chuckle. It worked because it was in-keeping with the brand, and anything that improves your customer’s mood needs to be encouraged.

May 11
0
Digital to physical: engaging shoppers on every level

Digital to physical: engage shoppers on every level

By | Blog, Digital, In-Store, On The Phone

There was a time when shoppers were never sure of exactly what they wanted until they walked into the high street, or shopping mall, and made their decisions based on what was presented to them.

Those days have practically gone.

Such has been the rise in online shopping that people now seek the products they desire – along with scores of reviews – before they even consider stepping out the front door.

As the trend of online shopping grew, many predicted that the days of books-and-mortar stores were numbered, but over time shopping patterns seem to have evened out, suggesting there is room for both physical and digital shopping to co-exist.

For all the benefits technology offers, it seems that human interaction is still an important part of customer satisfaction. Some shoppers may catch up with friends over a coffee, or enjoy lunch together in the mall. Even shopper who do research their products online may still prefer to have it now as opposed to wait for delivery.

These are all elements that support the physical shopper experience, and many shopping centre managers are now understanding that the strength of their digital channels can be used to entice customers in store; that physical and digital shopping aren’t exclusive from one another as first believed, but rather deeply connected.

Customer habits show us that strong digital content can lead them into a mall, and once they’re in, there is much that can be done to improve their mood, increasing dwell times, spend and also improving the chances of impulse buys. In fact, when running an academic study on customer behaviour, we found that playing the right music at the right time could achieve all of this.

There is also evidence that proves staff are more productive when they enjoy the music that’s played in their store – unsurprising given that they’re often stood in the same room for up to 8 hours a day.

Given that all this information is readily available, the question is, what should people in the retail sector do with it?

The first big step for any shopping centre manager is to accept that shoppers value being connected, and a connection should start long before they set foot in the mall.

Ultimately, there are 5 key elements to creating a strong customer journey, which happen in the following order:

1. Engage shoppers socially
To pull in new shoppers, and keep existing shoppers coming back, it’s important to have a presence on social media. Why? Because this is what people use now. It’s how they communicate. The more (good) content a shopping centre has on their Facebook and Twitter feeds, the more people will like, share, “check-in” and generally engage with that mall.

2. Reward their loyalty
Everybody likes to be rewarded. The beauty with a shopping centre is that, at any given time, there are countless offers running within their stores. So the question here is, are the offers clearly visible – online, in store and digitally? Does the centre have a stream of exciting new offers filling their web site and social media channels? If they do, people will flock to them, and are likely to share the offers with family and friends.

3. Be clear and concise
Within our research we found that if people visit a shopping centre website, they’re looking for one of three things: to find information on deals or offers, to find opening and closing times, or to find contact information. Therefore, these details should be clearly presented and easy to find.

4. Set the right mood
Almost everybody plays music within their mall, but do they play the right music? There’s a science to music and the effect it has can be incredibly powerful, so a mall shouldn’t just play any old tunes. Instead, they should work with a provider who insists on understanding their brand as well as the demographic of their customers. Only then can the music become a true benefit.

5. Point them in the right direction
Is it coming up to Father’s Day? Has another of our beloved musicians recently passed away? Is the mall holding a 1 minute silence for VE Day? Are they celebrating something unique to their store? Whatever’s happening, the message should be abundantly clear through some professional radio messaging. This way, the shopping centre can drive sales and increase moral among their staff and their shoppers.

A mall’s relationship with its customers can be all encompassing, and if shopping centres choose to engage with customers in each of the areas above, the reward is that they’ll become a go-to outlet whether shoppers are visiting in person, or simply browsing on their phone.

Mar 29
0
Research into the pre-agent telephone experience

Research into the pre-agent telephone experience

By | Blog, On The Phone

OnBrand Audio’s White Paper ‘The Pre-Agent Telephone Experience and Its Effect on Behaviour’ was the first academic study of customer satisfaction, frustration, and behaviour focusing only on the pre-agent section of the caller experience. The study was undertaken in conjunction with a team from The University of Roehampton around 18 months ago.

This research was the first of its kind on the pre-agent part of the experience and proved that what happens on this (often neglected) section of the phone call has a large impact on the subsequent success or failure of that call.

This white paper led onto developing the unique ‘Pre-Agent Experience Index’ which ranks the pre-agent telephone experience of over 250 brands. OnBrand Audio developed the experience index because in the white paper, 84% of consumers stated that they would potentially stop doing business with a company if the pre-agent experience frustrated them and 87% said they would stay loyal if the experience was positive.

The Index itself is a series of 40 questions divided into categories on Language, Structure, Voice, Quality, Brand and Experience. These are all factors which our experience tells us make up the most effective pre-agent caller experiences (effective for customers and the business). Each question is rated poor, average or good, giving a maximum of 5 points per question and 200 in total.

To give a specific example, the section on language has 4 questions and these are detailed below.

1) Do the words used match the language I use?

2) The language used is clear and I understand which option to press

3) The language is positive, not apologetic or negative

4) The language is concise and to the point, not wordy and long winded

The index has 220 companies rated and ranked both by total score but on each section. This enables us to develop a rigorous analysis of what is working well and what can be improved in each situation.

OnBrand Audio design new pre-agent experiences for major brands who have all of their other touch points aligned, but find that the telephone experience often gets left behind. This can result in the telephone menus becoming difficult for customers to use and inefficient for the organisation to run.

The good news is that all the elements of a positive caller experience also drive operational efficiency. The aim of the Pre-Agent Experience Index is to make this research useful to individual brands and help them improve in this crucial area.

Mar 29
0

OnBrand Offers Channel Proposition

By | Blog, On The Phone

OnBrand launch a partner programme to enable telecom companies to ‎provide professional audio messaging & IVR content services.

The partner programme was set up after extensive studies in customer contact, and the resulting outcome that organisations need to communicate even better before a call is answered – See more at: commsbusiness.co.uk

Mar 29
0
Partner Programme in a nutshell

Partner Programme in a nutshell

By | Blog, On The Phone

OnBrand Group launch a partner programme to enable telecom companies to ‎provide professional audio messaging & IVR content services.

The partner programme was set up after extensive studies in customer contact, and the resulting outcome that organisations need to communicate even better before a call is answered. Last year, OnBrand Group’s audio team developed a white paper in conjunction with a PhD research team at The University of Roehampton which examined the impact of the ‘pre-answer experience’ on the success or failure of a telephone call.

Rick Kirkham, Customer Experience Manager said; ‘The white paper was the first paper examining this area of customer contact in such detail and clearly proved the link between the messages customers hear before they get answered and the likelihood of a positive call outcome. With over 80% of phone systems in the UK using recorded messages, the Partner Programme unlocks a new opportunity for Telecoms partners to get quick and easy access to new audio messaging content for their customers.

The importance of getting the recorded part of the telephone experience right is perhaps highlighted by one of OnBrand Audio’s channel partners; Charities Buying Group Telecom, part of the Charities Buying Group.

David Nethercott, M.D. at CBGTelecom Ltd tells us that once they implemented the most cost effective telephone system for their charity customers, “It is extremely important that the caller is engaged, stays on the line when the call is answered, and the callers are in the best frame of mind to help the charity.  Using the Telephone Audio Partner Programme has enabled to us to offer this finishing touch to the charities we work with, enhancing their customer experience and adding value to their relationship with us.”

Daniel Graham, MD of OnBrand Group says; ‎”We worked hard to make sure the web portal is white labelled so there is no need to introduce another supplier into the chain, and that choosing voice artists, music and scripts was quick and effortless, reducing friction in the overall sale, adding a valuable step up in caller experience and customer satisfaction.”

This is an example of a new channel strategy that has clear benefits to both telecommunication partners and their end users. Working closely together they can deliver the product and service levels needed to succeed in the market place.

Mar 29
0

What is a brand?

By | Blog, On The Phone

To follow on from last month, we looked at finding a voice for your brand. This month we are going to look at, what is a Brand?

 

When you type this question in to Google, “what is a brand?” Google throws up two means for the term. Both are similar in their meaning, but one meaning has evolved based on its current context.

  • A type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name.
  • An identifying mark burned on livestock with a branding iron.

When you read these two statements, it’s clear to see that the latter of the two is the more likely of origin. But I also think it’s a very good way of explaining brand(ing) and what a brand really is.

The word “brand” derives from the Old Norse “brandr” meaning “to burn”. Branding itself dates as far back as Ancient Egypt and the Roman times. Roman glass makers would often brand there works to make them identifiable against other works. They main use of branding was amongst farmers and they would use hot iron designs to brand their cattle’s hides. It was mainly used on thick hided animals but also animals that where high in value when sold, such as horses. It was also used so that they could identify their cattle from a fellow farmer/seller. This really took off in parts of the world where there were large grazing areas for cattle, places like Spain and America really embraced this method.

What then started to happen was a rise in farmers doing this, but also in the designs being branded in to the animals. They became more elaborate and more meaningful and saw farmers using marks that represented their family names and values. They were becoming proud of how their brand would be seen amongst other famers, there direct competition. We then saw a rise in colour branding, spraying or painting them became a new take on branding. Laws then became stricter on branding over another brand, trying to sell cattle that isn’t yours under that brand, basically a lot of the same things we see now in the world of business law. Obviously the way the term “brand”, is used now is very different but it’s still has a lot of its old origins.

So, as you can see from my little insight, brand(ing) has come a long way from its origins. I thought it would be nice to look at this term from a very different angle. People always go for the obvious when they talk about the term ‘Brand’, I just thought it deserved to be talked about in its earliest form of meaning.

But, it’s always worth remembering that a brand is a passion, it’s unique and it’s yours.

Next month Adam Clark will be discussing how the term ‘arable farming’ applies to the business world. Sow, stay tuned.

Mar 29
0

Welcome to OnBrand Group

By | Blog, Digital, In-Store, On The Phone

Brand Audio rebrands as OnBrand Group Ltd

 
Brand Audio have today announced that they are to rebrand as OnBrand Group. The rebrand marks five years since the successful restructuring of the Brand Audio business. The rebrand will bring together five specialist business units, which have already received acclaim in their own respective fields, under the OnBrand Group name:

1 OnBrand Audio
Brand Audio will rebrand as OnBrand Audio, and will focus on customer experience design in telephony for brands and contact centres, visual IVR and telephone IVR voice message services, and a partner programme for telecom distributors and resellers.

2 OnBrand Radio
Centre Radio, the UK’s leading Shopping Centre Radio service, will rebrand as OnBrand Radio, focusing on in-store radio and messaging business.

3 OnBrand Music
Its retail counterpart Captive Music will continue as OnBrand Music, providing background music in retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

4 OnBrand Digital
OnBrand Digital will absorb Centre Buzz services of content creation, aggregation and syndication of online content for retail and shopping, and continue to offer bespoke web and mobile development.

5 OnBrand Marketing
Activities conducted as Talkabout Group will fall into OnBrand Marketing, which provides outsourced marketing support, content management, promotions sourcing and event production and management.

“The rebrand marks the scaling up of our business and the ability for our customers to identify with other opportunities within the group.” said Daniel Graham, Managing Director, OnBrand Group. “This transition marks five years of vertical growth and prepares the business for further expansion. It heralds a new direction and desire for OnBrand Group to become the number one agency in cross platform content production and content technology”.

 

Mar 29
0
The sound of your brand

The sound of your brand

By | Blog, On The Phone

OnBrand Audio work with organisations to ensure that their telephony is on brand and easy to navigate, so that every call strengthens the relationship with their customers.

Adam Clarke works with new customers to help them get this right, and here are a few of his thoughts on why and how to do it.

When people think of a brand, they don’t necessarily think about how they should sound.  When customers or clients ring, the pre-agent voice is the first thing they hear, so the way you sound is a lot more important than you think.

When we talk to people face-to-face, we tend to analyse how we might sound or come across, and choose to construct sentences in a certain way to fit the environment we are in. This is exactly how we should look at how our company sounds too. It could also be that person’s first encounter with you, and first impressions really do count.

Tone of voice is more than just a voice. It’s rhythm, intonation, pace and the language used. Companies often have this in place for other channels of contact (postal marketing, websites, social media, etc) and it is just as important (if not more so) on the phone, because sound is all you have. The sound of your brand is your customer experience!

Your tone of voice should set you apart from others and make you stand out. Drilling down on the brand, the personality and how you see yourselves is what ultimately will determine this.

Look at your products, the market you’re in, your competition and the demographic of people looking to communicate with you.

You also need to be clear about what types of calls you receive on each phone line and make sure that your tone is appropriate to that department. For example; you wouldn’t want to sound too upbeat or humorous to someone who is making a serious complaint as it may infuriate them further. You may still choose to use the same voice as the other lines, but slow the pace slightly, adapt the tone and remove any marketing content to keep it appropriate.

Writing for the telephone is also an art and sentences are often written in a different way so callers understand what they are being asked to do in that context.  If the instruction is ambiguous, people will mis-interpret them and may often press the wrong option.  This could lead them to the wrong place, causing caller frustration and higher costs for the business.

When writing for the phone, it’s important to think carefully about every connotation it could have before signing off the script.

There’s a lot more to consider, but if you follow the above, you will start to find your writing will change and your tone of voice will become more engaging and effective for customers, strengthening your relationship with them on every call.

To learn more or give us your thoughts please get in touch at adam@onbrandgroup.co.uk or call 03333 220022

Mar 29
0
Increase your margins by providing telephone audio services

Increase your margins by providing telephone audio services

By | Blog, On The Phone

Having worked in the communications industry for over 15 years, we’ve seen technology change out of all recognition and the sales marketplace as well.

Technology comes in many more shapes and sizes, which means that understanding your clients business objectives accurately, is of great importance.

Having precision in this area enhances your chance of winning your core sale, but the deeper understanding you have of client business needs enables you to open up wider opportunities to increase margin.

Research tells us that over 80% of UK business phone systems have a recorded message, either to welcome customers, direct them through to the right department or simply to educate and inform about products and services while on hold. This opens up a sales opportunity for communications sales professionals. Why not be the one who provides the customer facing messages as well as the system itself and make that all important extra margin?

The OnBrand Audio Partner Programme instantly enables you to offer a professional telephone audio service to your clients. You receive a white labelled web portal which guides you through choosing voice, music and scripts then quickly create quotes and submit orders. There are no set up fees or contracts, simply pay as you go.

We’d love to hear your feedback on our partner programme and for you to tell us what we can do to help you increase margins through providing telephone audio services.

Call us on 03333 22 00 22 or email sayhello@onbrand.co.uk to see how we can help your business.