On Hold Marketing

12/08/2025

Rich and Allen spent the weekend at 2nd Baptist Church performing in A Jazz Christmas with David Esleck. Proceeds from the five sold out shows go toward supporting Rise Academy, a fully accredited, tuition-free Christian school that prepares students to lead, and meaningfully engage with the world around them. We had a blast playing with some really talented musicians, making music for a very worthy cause.

05/28/2025

Do you ever think about the Importance of Internal Communications? How many people in your business answer the phone? How many of them are intimately involved in your day-to-day sales process, and sales success? Are all of those folks in the loop regarding the contents of your On Hold program and your other external marketing efforts? Today’s business climate is more competitive than ever. You can’t afford to have one missed sale, or one missed opportunity. Internal communication is a primary key to success, and a lack of it can contribute to difficulties. So be sure to spread the On Hold script around to everyone who’s in touch with your public. Ask us to e-mail you a copy of the current script if you don’t have it on file. And be sure to include everyone on your staff with regular updates on all of your other marketing efforts. How can you expect your customers to know if your staff doesn’t know?

12/03/2024

Did you ever wonder why we say "'TIS THE SEASON?"
The phrase ’tis the season comes from one of the most famous Christmas carols, "Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly." The contraction ‘tis for “it is” was overtaken by it’s in modern speech and remains mostly only in the phrase ’tis the season. CHEERS!
What's clearly been lost to modern hummers of "Deck the Halls" is the importance that harps historically played in renditions of the song. Composer and conductor John Rutter explained it to National Public Radio's Bob Edwards on "Morning Edition" in December, 1994:
'Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly.' Well, that certainly originated in Wales, and that much we do know, but, it was originally meant to be performed by a group of singers and a harp, and the idea was that the singers would come up with the first line, 'Deck the hall with boughs of holly,' and then the harpist would improvise the next line, and then they'd sing the line after that, 'Tis the season to be jolly,' and the harpist would play something. And, you know, a few drinks would be taken and everybody would have a wonderful time, and you'd get a carol out of it. But, of course, that only worked in Wales where they had harpists on every street corner. You see, it's the national instrument. Well, outside Wales, what do you do when you don't have a harp? So, what people did was just sing 'Fa la la la la.' So, actually, when you sing 'Deck the hall with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, fa la la la,' you're actually filling in for a harpist that is missing. And so it's worth remembering that if you ever want to do that you should really find the budget to hire a harpist.
THANKS to Merriam-Webster for today's post!

03/04/2024

Upgrade your on hold experience when you update your on hold messages and music. Your customers will notice your new program and wonder what else is new. It's a great way to start a conversation about services or products, and yes, more revenue for your business. Give us a call at 804-273-6900 and find out how we do it!

11/24/2023

Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours!

11/01/2023

Do you really need Monthly or Quarterly Updates?
It’s a good idea for your On Hold programs to mirror your other marketing, in terms of both content and frequency. If you’re already doing a quarterly or monthly newsletter, updating your website that often, or updating any other external marketing on a similar schedule, quarterly or monthly On Hold updates make sense for you. The messages in your program should change in concert with everything else. But if your overall marketing, or offering of products and services, stays essentially the same during the course of the year, you probably don’t need to update that often. There are a number of reasons that frequency can and will work for many clients, and we can show you how to make the process easier and more efficient. We also offer ala carte update pricing in case you’re not quite sure what your update needs will be for the coming year. We can help you make sure you’re getting what you really need before you jump in head first!

10/02/2023

Is it time to freshen up your message on hold program? Is your on-hold information current and up to date? Simply let us know of any revisions you'd like to make, and we'll make it happen. Got a supplier or customer who needs to improve the "On Hold" experience of their customers? Share this post with them! We'll be glad to share our On Hold Marketing story with them.

10/02/2023

Is it time to freshen up your message on hold program? Is your on-hold information current and up to date? Simply let us know of any revisions you'd like to make, and we'll make it happen. Got a supplier or customer who needs to improve the "On Hold" experience of their customers? Share this post! We'll be glad to share our On Hold Marketing story with them.

Get customized on-hold messaging & in-store music for your business. Increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue with our expert services.

08/29/2023

Considering A Change In Your Phone System?
It’s happened several times over the past few years – long time, satisfied On Hold Marketing clients switched to a new phone system only to find that they’d lost the capacity to have their customized On Hold program play on their new, "all the whistles and bells," phone systems. This doesn’t have to be the case. There are many reasons to upgrade to the various new technologies available today. But be sure to bring On Hold Marketing into your planning process early. Here's why. A new telephone system could drastically change how your On Hold messages are heard by your callers. In some cases, the new telephone system may simply not provide On Hold Messaging the way you're accustomed. It all depends on the details and features of the new system. Don't wait until the new system is in to find out how it may affect your callers’ “On Hold” experience. Please call us to discuss before you make the move! We'll share our experience with the new VoIP, Hosted and "cloud based" systems and help you discuss your options with your team members.

06/26/2023

Lloyd Shockley - Founder of On Hold Marketing was not only a Thespian performer here in Richmond, but a longtime supporter and promoter of the arts. This photo from 1978 shows Lloyd at Dogwood Dell discussing plans to raise money to make improvements at the amphitheater space. RIP Lloyd and thanks for making the world a better place. And,here's another view of Dogwood Dell, June 24, 2023 ~ 45 years later ~ just about the same angle as a previous post. Thanks to all who continue to support Live Music and all The Arts in RVA! 🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶

03/12/2022

Lloyd Shockley - Founder of On Hold Marketing was not only a Thespian performer here in Richmond, but a longtime supporter and promoter of the arts. This photo from 1978 shows Lloyd at Dogwood Dell discussing plans to raise money to make improvements at the amphitheater space. RIP Lloyd and thanks for making the world a better place.

06/01/2021

Best Practices for Telephone Etiquette

Best Practices for Telephone Etiquette can be part of any customer service or patient engagement initiative. Have you ever noticed how much attention (and money) a business or practice spends on its lobby? The lobby is truly very important in that it is an entry portal or ‘touch point’ for clients and partners….just as the “telephone lobby” is for callers ‘on hold’.

Consider these tips for best caller experiences:

1)Your main phone number is the front door to your business:
• Experience the ‘caller experience’ by calling your own company, then rate your initial first impression.

2) Automated Attendant Messages
• The most effective automated attendants offer only 3-5 menu choices initially, with the most commonly desired destination being listed first.
• Brevity and voice audio quality are critical. Avoid lengthy greetings.

3) Call Screening techniques:
• Consider NOT screening the call. While the called party would appreciate the knowledge of who is calling, and preparing properly for the call, consider that Caller ID can do some of that work for you. Sure, an undesired call or two will ‘sneak through’, but that is a minor consequence to the potential that a viable and perhaps sensitive client may feel snubbed.

4) Voice Mail Greetings:
• Change your voice mail greeting every day to reflect your ‘status’ for the day.
• Be sure to speak clearly and don’t rush through your name or company name. A very simple “Hello, this is Jeff Burton with Burton Construction. Please leave a message and I look forward to returning your call shortly” is all that’s required.
• Record your voice mail greeting via the handset, not the speakerphone or cell phone.
• After you have recorded your greeting, be sure to quickly press whatever button ( # or *) your system requests to ‘end’ the greeting.
• To the extent possible, always allow (via programming) an ‘operator revert’ in the form of a zero to operator for the caller.
• Spend 15-20 minutes with your user guide to completely understand the plethora of features available on your telephone system.

5) Caller ID Name and Number:
What NAME do people see in their CALLER ID DISPLAY? Is it the current and proper name of your company? Contact us if you need help with this.

6) On Hold Treatment of your callers:
Consider the benefits of making callers that are ‘waiting’ On Hold feel as welcomed as your in-person customers. The key to creating an effective messaging program is to educate the callers on products and services offered.

You can learn even more at: https://onholdmarketinginc.com/telephone-tips/telephone-tips-etiquette