Home security company APX was founded in 1997. Easy On Hold developed custom on hold marketing messages for APX. Then in 1999 the company became known as Vivint, and continued to grow. The name change prompted Vivint to turn to on hold branding from Easy On Hold.
On hold branding also builds credibility
You may have been visited by a Vivint sales student. The company has used an innovative sales campaign involving 2,200 college students. Doors were knocked in more than 90 cities across the U.S. and Canada. Part of the strategy would be a custom on-hold messaging program from Easy On Hold.
“It was our 10th year of marketing our service to homeowners door to door, and we expected to add 360,000 customers,” says Tom Coleman, Vivint special projects manager.
“The college student sales program has been a huge success and is the reason why we’ve steadily moved up the ranks into the industry’s top 10 in terms of customers. And while potential customers are impressed by the well-trained student at their door, they want to make sure our company is legitimate, so they’ll call our office to find out more.”
Tom Coleman, Vivint Special Projects Manager
That’s when the Easy On Hold program comes into play.
Key qualities of on hold branding
Vivint told Easy On Hold that there were key qualities needed in order to use the on hold branding effectively. Professionalism, credibility, and helpfulness must come through the phone.
“With more than 500,000 customers, our call center fields thousands of calls a day, and inevitably customers are holding for assistance. It’s important that our hold message sound professional, convey helpful information, and help us build rapport with our audience. On hold messaging gives us that added credibility. It just wouldn’t make sense to launch such a sales effort without messaging-on-hold as a part of the mix.”
Tom Coleman, Vivint
The on hold branding formula worked
In 2013, Forbes ranked the company 46th in its annual ranking of “America’s Most Promising Companies.” – Wikipedia
Working with Easy On Hold producers, Tom created 14 short statements that pack a lot of punch while giving customers “think time,” he calls it. “We didn’t want an on hold message with too much talking; that can frustrate callers and they tune out. So we developed short little ideas that talk about the benefits and features of working with Vivint, followed by almost a minute of music between each idea. It’s a happy medium—simple, punchy content and fresh, great-sounding music. This is going to take us to the next level in our brand credibility,” says Tom.
