How does it make you feel when a customer lets you know that you did something above and beyond the call of duty?  How about when one of your employees gets a thank you note with appropriate laudatory remarks, how does he feel and what does it do for your "I-hired-that-guy; how-cool-am-I” feelings?  Why not share that testimonial with those callers who are listening to your on hold messaging when they call?  Guaranteed those callers will ratchet up their feelings about your organization a few notches.  And that will reinforce their decisions to call you and to want to do business with you.

Think about how often you get annoyed with the amount of time taken up by a string of radio ads. The operative word is “string”.  You hear an ad for the Chevy Bolt, followed immediately by an ad for the Ford Focus which in turn is followed by an ad for car insurance, then USPS, then Speedway gasoline and sandwiches, etc.  Did you lose interest?  Did you shut down the auditory nerve in the inner ear? What’s the point?  When people are on hold, do not “blitz” them with a string of messages.  Give them one short – 20-25 second – on hold message then an equal amount of time of music so that the caller can absorb, maybe even think about, what she just heard, before there is another “blast of verbiage”. So think about that as you write your copy for an Express On Hold 4-minute or 8-minute production.

What is the marketing tool with the greatest and/or longest reach?  Your web site.  I hope you have one.  If you don’t, e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   for some suggestions.  If you do, are you telling every caller that you have a web site?  At least those callers who are put on hold.  Make sure your on hold messages contain statements that will encourage suspects, prospects, and clients/customers to go to your web site.  You put a lot of money into the web site; make sure you maximize the return from it.

What awards has your company or organization won?  Who cares?  People who call care.  If they are put on hold, the messages should  tell them just how credible your outfit is.  They really don’t want to find out after the fact that your guy is the one who tracked the red paint across the white carpet in the living room.  No!  They want to know that your company has a five star rating, is ISO 2011 compliant, has won gold medals for customer service, has 125 years combined experience in widget design and production, and is noted for its record for on time delivery!