The whole trust of much of the marketing and promotion work carried out by garages and bodyshops is to get customers to call their business first. But it seems that even if they achieve this objective, many are being let down at the final hurdle, telephone call handling.

Audio branding specialist PHMG has conducted a survey of 255 firms in the UK bodyshop and garages sector and found around a third are placing customers on hold with generic call music, something that previous studies have found puts a customer off doing business. 32% of customers were just given beeps to listen to, 25% were left in total silence and 6% had to listen to constant ringing. PHMG said only 4% of the motor trade businesses survey employed a best practice brand-consistent voice and music messaging.

The Sales and Marketing Director at PHMG, Mark Williamson commented, “Call handling remains a critically undervalued element of customer service and marketing. A previous study of 1,000 consumers found 73% will not do business with a company again if their first call isn’t handled satisfactorily.” He added, “It is important companies do their utmost to improve the experience. Bodyshops and Garages appear to be performing better than the majority of businesses in this respect but there is still work to be done in providing an experience that keeps callers engaged and entertained.”

Mark points out that Generic music, beeps, ringing or silence convey a message that the customer is not valued, which will only serve to compound any annoyance felt as a result of being placed on hold.