Sure the NBA is back on the hardwoods, the NFL is gearing up for the playoffs, the NHL is in full swing and Major League Baseball is on hiatus until spring training. What do sports have to do with On-hold messages you might ask?  Well, On hold messages are not only for keeping your customers entertained while on-hold.  Another amazing thing that on-hold marketing can do for your company is to tell about your brand’s story, and below is how one MLB star accomplished just that.

Yes, you’ve read that right. On-hold messages can tell more about your brand by merely delivering  a clear message to your callers while giving them something to think about. But, before we give you tips of how to utilize your message on-hold into creating wonderful stories and moments of Eureka for your brand, let me share with you this inspiring incident by free agent, Jose Reyes.

A New York Post reporter, Kevin Kernan called Peter Greenberg and Associates who represent New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes for an update on his free agency. To his surprise, he heard Reyes’ recently released song “No Hay Amigo,” translated to “There are no friends” while he was put on-hold.

From there on, Kernan understood and got all the answers he needed before he was even greeted by someone from the company. He soon found out that Reyes is unhappy with the Mets and using his song as music on-hold is one way for him to let someone know the status of his career.

Isn’t it interesting to have something that can capture your brand message without having to do so much about it? You know people will be put on-hold, and when they are, they will hear your message and understand what your brand is all about.

Reyes’ song was pretty clever and to use it as an on-hold music; anybody who calls the Mets would readily understand what’s going on. How do you do something like that? Here are three strategic ways to make sure you’re on the right track with your music on-hold and messages.

Come up with your best pitch

Callers are a hot prospect. By the time they dial your number, you know they mean business. Show them you’re a big-league player by creating a compelling on-hold message that will talk about your brand’s asset and what sets it apart from your competitors.

Think about message’s purpose

Reyes and his agent knew reporters would be calling. They knew a lot of people would have inquiries and they’re completely aware of what the callers wanted to hear. Now, your goal is to make sure that your message is clear enough and that it will be readily understood by callers and customers. What do you want to tell them? Think about the message’s purpose and your on-hold message and music will go a long way.

Pay attention to details

In Reyes’ case, the music on-hold was the message. However, not all businesses can afford to have a single music or message that can encompass everything they need to tell to their callers. What you need to do is update your message to spotlight your latest accomplishments, current deals, or seasonal events. You can also craft a music or message that will reflect your business’ culture and personality.

Do something with your marketing campaign by coming up with a good and clear on-hold message. You need not to worry, we at The Original On Hold,Inc are your friends, and we’ll make sure that your business will step-up to the plate.

Perception is a tricky beast. Just when you think you’ve understood something perfectly, another person will view the situation in a completely different way. And, on hold recordings are not exempted in this scenario.

One interesting example here is the “silence-on-hold” experience: This is when you are immediately put on-hold when you call a business. While the owner might think that this is just how a typical corporate phone system works, customers, on the other hand, might feel like they’re disconnected. Worse? Callers might interpret the silence as you not being interested with them, thus resulting in caller abandonment (hang-ups) which according to on hold stats can cause a loss of 60% of potential revenues in a business.

This situation also holds true with canned on hold music. Canned telephone on-hold music, are generic on-hold recordings that are requested by some establishments thinking that they can solve the problem of callers having to wait for a few minutes.

However, instead of solving, they have worsen the situation. Business owners think that with a canned on-hold message, they can alleviate the waiting time of callers by just simply playing the recording without any plans of updating or changing the music on-hold.

With that, customers feel more frustrated which can result to more hang-ups. Replacing silence with a canned on-hold message can be more disastrous than silence! The sad thing is that companies are implying that canned messages on-hold can just sit there, never to be updated or enhanced until the end of time.

Remember that your customers are judging and formulating different opinions about your business during those couple of minutes on-hold. So, you need to see to it that you have made the right impression during those moments when you have your caller’s full attention.  It should more informative, more timely, and more accurate as your brand progresses.

Canned on-hold messages do the opposite and ruin what is supposed-to-be a good customer experience. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes: Would you like to hear something that sounds like a broken record with poorly crafted on-hold message, with bad music, bad timing, and irrelevant content? I don’t think so.

I bet you’ve been put on-hold several times. How do you feel when you hear something informative and at the same time relevant? It’s the best on-hold experience, isn’t it? Give that kind of satisfaction to your customers, too! Don’t simply use a band-aid and settle for less.

The New Year is just around the corner and for small business owners the often daunting task of developing a solid marketing strategy for 2012 looms ahead, too. What should small business owners focus their marketing efforts on in 2012?

According to research just released by The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute, 2012 won't be a walk in the park for most small businesses. Continuing economic uncertainty, access to capital, and politics will all affect small businesses in the coming year. One of the “biggest” challenges predicted for small businesses in the coming year Larger companies plan to aggressively marketing to prospects once considered "too small" in the past. In other words, the Big guys will be coming after your market share like never before!

In marketing, gone are the days where “less is more.” Today, we make sure to give more to our customers by constantly reminding them that our brand exists and it’s better than the rest.  We make sure that every time prospective customer comes to us, we captivate them with our advertising. This philosophy holds true in on-hold marketing.

Implementing an on hold message system for your business in the coming year will go a long way. While it’s true callers don’t like to be put on-hold, on hold messages have proven to have high success rates in  caller retention (callers will wait on hold with music and messages 3 times longer vs. music or silence - ) increased sales inquiries ( 40% increase in offers mentioned on hold) as well as increased revenues (sales increased by 20%+). 

With on-hold marketing, you can convey your message, make offers, and advance your relationship to your callers who are put on-hold in your business’ phone system. Custom Music On-hold and messages  are one of the most promising marketing strategies today and companies are making sure that they have utilized this kind of advertising method. With on-hold marketing, you will have better chances at winning customers, instead of losing them.

So if you’re planning your New Year’s marketing strategy, it had best include an on hold message system! Rather  than having callers feel annoyed when in hold,  or even worse “hang-up” due to silence causing lost revenues (oh by the way, which is exactly what the big boys want!), you’ll be able to provide an improved customer experience, a positive brand image and turn what’s often considered annoying waiting time into a positive experience.