It is crazy how many companies still play the radio to their callers on hold; especially bigger companies who have large marketing budgets. It blows my mind, because a telephone message on hold program is relatively inexpensive and promotes a company’s products and services, while simultaneously distracting your callers from the fact they are waiting for you. So I don’t see why businesses fail to look at their internal marketing strategies.

Just the other day I called a particular store that supplies products for babies. I was looking for a particular stroller, and I’d heard they had it for a good price – and they did have stock available – if they had the colour I wanted, the deal was as good as done. UNTIL …

 When they put me on hold to see if they had the colour I wanted, I was greeted with the radio on hold, which was great, I heard the ending to one of my current favourite songs “Happy” by Will Pharrell.

However, what played next lost this company my business. After the song finished a set of advertisements was aired, and one of them just so happened to be about the stroller I was looking for – at a much cheaper price. Now I wish I could have been loyal, as the lady who was helping me was really lovely, but at the end of the day, I do prefer my hard earned cash in my pockets rather than someone else’s. And my patience isn’t that great, I didn’t hang around for the lady to return, I simply hung up the phone and called the competitor whose radio advertisement I had just heard and bought the stroller from them.

Yes I could have waited and asked if they would price match, but I couldn’t be bothered wasting anymore time.

This baby store lost my business, and even if I had have stayed on the line and asked for a price match, they would have lost margin … and all because they were playing the radio to their callers waiting on hold.

Furthermore, unbeknown to many people, you are still legally required to pay for the privilege of playing radio on your commercial phone lines – and for some companies it can cost thousands per year – and you have absolutely no control.

As a marketing professional, I see great value in telephone messages on hold, and believe all companies; both big and small should invest in a program as part of their internal marketing strategy. Marketing isn’t just about getting people to caller, marketing covers every aspect: awareness, customer service, sales and aftersales experienced.

Media Messages produce high quality audio productions specifically for a telephone message on hold program, and our contracts start from as little as $11/week. Don’t just take our word for it, let us create a free audio advertisement for you to hear how it can work for you.