An On-Hold story…….

Tony & his wife own a popular pizza take-out business.  It’s purely a phone driven business.  Two years ago they installed a new three-line phone system to meet their increased  call volume.   One of it’s features was MOH, Music On Hold.  They didn’t know what it was at first.  But, when they learned it would “broadcast” music and any recorded message they wanted callers to hear, they found it offered a unique, low cost marketing technique.

Realizing their callers were ready to place an order, they used a custom on hold program to give callers an incentive to expand what they ordered.  For example, when they added Buffalo style wings to their menu, sales were pretty disappointing.  Why?  Because people were ordering from the same copy of the menu they had picked up months ago, long before Tony added wings.   They used their on hold messages to let customers know that with every dozen of the new wings, they would receive a free liter of Pepsi.   Did it help?

You bet!  Wings sales jumped 43% the first month.  And it’s interesting to know that most callers said that they hadn’t known that wings were available until they heard about it while on hold.

It’ a basic concept that markets directly to existing customers, making sure they know about new products and services… and getting them to add on profitable items to an order they’re about to place anyway.  It can work for just about any business.  So how costly is it?

Tony pays less than a dollar a day for his fully customized On Hold Programs.  He changes and updates often.  And whenever he changes or adds something new to his business, callers learn about it every time they’re put on hold.    Tony knows without a doubt, this program makes money!