Guest article by Julie Cook
This article is about your old on hold message. Why it won’t work anymore. Why you need some new ideas. We’ll get to a few examples you’ll find helpful.
The idea for this article came to me soon after we made the decision to give our ole family minivan the boot. Yup, her time has come. For several years, she’s been there for nearly everything in our family’s lives: school carpools, sports events, road trips, endless Home Depot hauls, and trips to the vet. But she’s tired. And when we look into the future to the kind of vehicle we know we’ll need over the next several years as our busy boys complete high school and head for college, she just won’t have what it takes. It’s time to say goodbye for something better.
The same thing is true in our marketing efforts for our businesses.
The Old Ways Don’t Work
Traditional practices simply don’t deliver the goods anymore. Newspaper readership is way down. Television and radio have exploded into more choices than we ever thought possible. Social media opportunities are keeping all of us on our toes, with more pressure every day to blog, tweet, post, like, boost your site rankings, etc. Never has it been so difficult to put a bulls-eye on your target buyer—because you can’t. They’re unpredictable and rarely in one place for long.
Telephone Still Powerful
As a marketing professional for more than 25 years, I never dreamed the marketing landscape would be so dissected and so complicated. Yet there’s one marketing tool that has remained easy, consistent, and an absolute fundamental: Your telephone.
Chase Data writes about the importance of voice communications.
[Phone calls] still account for the largest percentage of information exchanged between consumers and customer service agents. For that reason and many more, they are still the top priority for most call centers around the world.
Ahmed Macklai, Chase Data
Think about it: Calling your business remains the only way your prospects and customers can really have a conversation with you. And when you inevitably place them on hold–yes, we all have to do it out of necessity–they’re no longer a moving target. They’re yours. Are you using that time to your advantage? It’s more powerful than you realize.
Examples Of Effective On Hold Marketing
Here are some recent examples of how our clients are maximizing their hold time to inspire their callers to do something.
Multipet is building community and loyalty by promoting a Facebook contest for dog owners to upload photos of their pets using Multipet toys.
STA Travel is building foot traffic and web visits by promoting a contest for a trip for two to Britain.
Norwegian Cruise Lines is building excitement by promoting new artwork by legendary artist Peter Max on one of its ship’s hulls and building business by giving away $250 in on-board spending for all cruises booked by September 21st.
Local Driving School is building trust by educating its clients (moms and dads) about Teensmart that will help educate their young drivers about driver safety. When they do, they can save 20% through their insurance company. Local Driving School doesn’t make a dime…but they endear themselves to their buyers.
48HourPrint.com is building business by offering a 15% discount for all callers on hold if they use the discount code mentioned in the message when they order.
Clinton Bank is building loyalty and overall feel goods by promoting the community’s annual fall festival dates and activities.
Affordable Contracting is building business by using the fall season to push a kitchen or bath remodel in time for the holidays.
Ames Raquet And Fitness is proving its relevance with its own “The Biggest Loser” popularity with its “Fat to Fit” contest for 6 lucky members this fall.
Moodz Spa is demonstrating its expertise by announcing the results of the readers’ choice awards they’ve recently won.
Ask for a free consultation with a music on hold expert who understands messages on hold. Get more tips here – On Hold Messaging Tips.
Try This
Here is an exercise I would encourage you to do this week: Put yourself on hold and listen to what you’re communicating: Are you happy with it? Or is it the same old, same old? Could you be building more business, more visits to your Facebook page, more foot traffic into your store? Could you be building more trust or goodwill just by giving away good information that doesn’t necessarily deliver you any profit? You may be surprised that you’re missing marketing opportunities that you didn’t realize were there. We can help.
