Holiday Marketing Ideas for Hardware Stores: 5 ideas the are proven to work

Holiday marketing ideas for Hardware stores give your store new opportunities every year.  This is the season of “black Friday” that can be your busiest time of the year.  Join all the fun and advertise your best ideas to attractive your customers and prospects into the store.

Today’s most successful hardwarestores know that special marketing opportunities give you more ways than ever to “get into the black” and make the year a profitable one.  Your large and varied product line lends itself to surprising customers with seasonal additions like…

• Artificial (or real) Christmas Trees
• Decorative Christmas lights for the tree or outdoor lights for the house
• Indoor lights like battery operated candles for the windows
• Tree stands
• Gift items like tools, crafts kits, and homewares.

Holiday Marketing Ideas for Hardware Stores that never fail

This is the season when everyone is happier, so try some fun ideas:

• Inviting Santa? Why not? It’s a fun way to attract nearby families
• Play some Holiday Music in the store, and on your business phone system on hold
• Christmas Coupons
• Cross Promote with another business
• Change the name of a product just to keep things interesting
• Create a fun YouTube video

You’ll get better results when you use these ideas to attract more shoppers.

Examples of Holiday Marketing Ideas for Hardware Stores

Festive Window Displays are a way to attract attention from foot traffic and drivers alike.

Email newsletters are affordable and can be easy to put together: if you don’t have one, start collecting customer email addresses and send out any holiday special offers in a new way.

Instore signage has always been a reliable way to get your customers’ attention once they’re in the store.  Chains like Ace and True Value have demonstrated it’s power.  But shoppers see it only when they’re already in the store, so this isn’t the time to promote lower profit item or “loss leaders.”  Use it wisely to highlight your more profitable product lines. This is your upsell opportunity.

Messages on hold deliver “the right message to the right people at the right time.” They give your telephone callers more ideas about how you can help them, and show them how you’ve got the solutions they’re looking for, whenever they call you.  These targeted marketing messages give customers a reason to “take the next step” and either place their order, or visit your showroom.

Click Here for a Free 15-minute Strategy Session

You can even use some of the “Holiday Marketing Ideas for Hardware Stores that never fail” with your on hold promotions: with “audio coupons,” cross promoting other businesses, or announcing holiday events.  And your messages on hold can play fun holiday music in the background.

Informer Messages on hold have worked for both Ace and True Value, as well as for independent hardware stores.  They work with your existing telephone system, and it’s easy to get started: tell us about your customers, and your best selling opportunities, and we’ll do the rest.  Informer on hold message service includes:

• Strategy development: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail
• Target market analysis: reach the right consumers
• Script writing and revision
• Broadcast quality recording with the professional voice you choose, and licensed background music
• Digital on hold player, or formatting for your VoIP telephone system
• Proactive update assistance: we’ll give you suggestions that will show you how to maximize the value of your new marketing tool throughout the year
• Free updates of your onhold messages with any of our Full Service Plans.

Put these Holiday Marketing Ideas for Hardware Stores to use today

The Holidays come just once a year, so don’t miss out.  There’s still time to join the festivities and get into the holiday spirit. You can launch your holiday messages on hold campaign right away, by calling us today, at 800-862-8896. In New York call 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920.  It’s the holiday season.  Why not join in?

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Hold Music for Business Phones in New York is a thing of the past. Right?

Hold music for business phones in New York has really changed.  There was a time that music on hold was something special.  There was even a (infamous) company that was synanamous for the “dentist music” or “elevator music” that played on hold at many large businesses.  But music on hold just isn’t enough any more and the music on hold companies are a thing of the past.

Hold Music for Business Phones has been replaced in New York

Smart businesses have discovered the breakthrough that lets them replace onhold music, with something that your callers will like better. And you’ll like the reaction.

We all know that #holdhappens.  Your business is busy.  Your phones are busy. They ring when your customers have problems.  They call to find out if you can help.

Your callers want information: can you solve their problems?  Can you help them?  It all starts by educating them: telling them about what you do, how you do it, and what makes you special.  Let them know what you do best, and how you’re different from your competition.  That’s the kind of information that your callers want, and that you want them to have.

Do you like to listen to hold music for business phones?

We admit it: New Yorkers are impatient. We’re too busy to wait…and wait.  Playing phone music seemed like a good idea, but “that was then.”  Customer service is the key.  Giving your callers what they want, when they want it, leads to happier customers and business success.

What would you like your customers to know more about if you had a chance? Marketing has the job of delivering your message to the world.  Marketing (as well as advertising) is the way to communicate with everyone out there.  Just want to sound more professional?  Or is there something special about your business or your products and services?  Is there information about how your product can help them that would be useful to know about?

The replacement for hold music for business phones

The replacement is hold messages for business phones.

And how hard are they get?
We make it easy.  The Informer does everything for you: we learn about your business and (more importantly) your customers. We develop a strategy for helping them better.  And then we develop the most effective script for delivering your message. Not just telling them…but telling them in a way that they respond to.  In a way that helps you get the results you want.  Guaranteed.

Ready to upgrade from hold music for business?

If you compete in New York, you really don’t have a choice: you have to make the most of every opportunity. Take the next step, and sign up for your Free Discovery Session, to discover just how much you can accomplish on every call. Do it today. Click here to email us, or, in New York City, call 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920. Or Nationwide call 800-862-8896.  Do it now.

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On Hold Systems : 6 Steps To Make Your New Marketing Tool Work

On hold systems can be one of your most effective new marketing tools.  Why?  Because you know that everyone who hears them is interested in how you can help them, and wants to know more.  Customers and prospects call you for your help.  A well designed on hold message can start to deliver that information, even when your callers have to wait on hold.

On hold systems work on your phones

What do your callers current hear on hold?  Nothing?  Music on hold?  Maybe that default music that came with your new VoIP Phone Service?  Most business telephone systems play music on hold.  It lets callers know that they haven’t been cut-off.  It helps make the time callers spend waiting seem shorter.  But replacing music with something more interesting gives you a marketing edge

On hold systems are a new opportunity

A well planned onhold message gives you a chance to

– inform your best prospects about your products and services

– educate callers about what’s most important when purchasing the products and services you offer

– let them know about the advantages you offer, and…

– show how you’re different from your competition

How do on hold systems work?

Your marketing message works with your PBX Telephone or VoIP System.  Then, every time callers are placed on hold, they hear your on hold advertising:

1. The first step is taking about your business, your products and services, and your customers’ needs
2. Use these ideas to develop a strategy (this is important because if you “fail to plan, you plan to fail”) of what you can accomplish
3. Take the time to write a script: because of the way that callers will hear your messages shorter messages work better than longer ones. Messages should probably be less than 30 seconds in length, preferably shorter.
4. Now go back and edit your messages! Though they may seem good, you can make them better: more concise, and more focused.
5. Record them: your messages will only sound as professional as the quality of the recording.
6. Put them to work! Get them playing for your callers to listen to. Then keep them updated regularly to keep them timely and up to date.

Each step is important.  Each takes time.  But you’ll accomplish more when you invest the time.

The Informer’s team pioneered creating messages on hold in 1986.  We’ve continued to improve our marketing techniques and created thousands of custom messages for on hold messages that callers ask about.

Interested in how on hold systems can work for you?  Why not call now to find out what others in your industry, all across the nation, have accomplished, and what you can,https://informermessages.com/tell-me-more/ too. Call us toll free at 800-862-8896.  Call our headquarters in New York City at 212-355-6980 or in Connecticut at 203-655-3920.

Find out how On hold systems can work for you!

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On Hold Message Systems : Do you know how they can help you grow?

On hold message systems can be one of your most effective new marketing tools.  Why?  Because you know that everyone who hears them is interested in how you can help them, and wants to know more.  Customers and prospects call you for your help.  A well designed on hold message can start to deliver that information, even when your callers have to wait on hold.

What do your callers currently hear on hold?  Nothing?  Music on hold?  Maybe that default music that came with your new VoIP Phone Service?  Most business telephone systems play music on hold.  It lets callers know that they haven’t been cut-off.  It helps make the time callers spend waiting seem shorter.  But replacing hold music with something more interesting gives you a marketing edge

On hold message systems are a new opportunity

A well planned onhold message gives you a chance to
– inform your best prospects about your products and services
– educate callers about what’s most important when purchasing the products and
services you offer
– let them know about the advantages you offer, and…
– show how you’re different from your competition

How do on hold message systems work?

Your marketing message works with your PBX Telephone or VoIP System.  Then, every time callers are placed on hold, they hear your on hold advertising:

1. The first step is taking about your business, your products and services, and your customers’ needs
2. Use these ideas to develop a strategy (this is important because if you “fail to plan, you plan to fail”) of what you can accomplish
3. Take the time to write a script: because of the way that callers will hear your messages shorter messages work better than longer ones. Messages should probably be less than 30 seconds in length, preferably shorter.
4. Now go back and edit your messages! Though they may seem good, you can make them better: more concise, and more focused.
5. Record them: your messages will only sound as professional as the quality of the recording. Be sure that your on hold voiceover is good.
6. Put them to work! Get them playing for your callers to listen to. (For PBX telephone systems you may need an on hold player) Then keep them updated regularly to keep them timely and up to date.

Each step is important.  Each takes time.  But you’ll accomplish more when you invest the time.

The Informer’s team pioneered creating messages on hold in 1986.  We’ve continued to improve our marketing techniques and created thousands of custom on hold marketing messages that callers ask about.

Interested in how on hold message systems can work for you?  Why not call now to find out what others in your industry, all across the nation, have accomplished, and what you can, too. Call us toll free at 800-862-8896.  Call our headquarters in New York City at 212-355-6980 or in Connecticut at 203-655-3920.

Find out how On Hold Message systems can work for you!

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AT&T Music on hold alternative: are you still settling for less?

AT&T Music on hold has been a standard option for 30 years.  After three decades, isn’t it time to stop settling for just music, and give yourself an edge?

On hold marketing gives you the edge that you’ve been looking for: with the right on hold messages, you can sound more professional and accomplish more on every phone call.  They give you the ability to reach your customers and your best prospects in completely unique new way.  While most advertising is designed to say “look at me” and get you noticed, on hold recordings are the proven way to say “welcome” and show your business telephone callers why they should take the next step…on the way to a sale.

Hold messages have a special job to do.  While up to 96% of all marketing efforts are devoted to helping you stand out in a crowd and get you noticed, your messages on hold come into play when consumers are interested enough in you to want to know more.  They’re may not be ready to buy, but they’re ready to listen.

AT&T Music on hold isn’t enough

Think about your business telephone callers: they’re your customers and your best prospects.  They’re not calling to listen to music.  They’ve taken the step to pick up the phone and call you.  You can think of every phone call as “a call for help.”  Now you can start giving them the help they need, even if they have to wait on hold for a while.

And #holdhappens.  According to AT&T Research, up to 69% of business telephone calls are placed on hold. Think about your own experience:  the last time you called a business with a question or problem, you probably had to wait in a “queue” for “the next available representative,” or you were answered by a real person, but later asked to “please hold.” It happens in your business, too.  Its a real problem, but it can be fixed.

You need more than AT&T Music on hold

The first step in developing the most success onhold messages is asking questions: about your business, your products and services, and (most importantly) your customers: how do you help them?  what are their problems?

With this information, we can consider your goals, and develop a strategy to accomplish them.  Don’t worry: we do it all, and it’s part of your Informer Service.  We’ll use this information to write your script, and continue to revise it until it’s perfect.  When your script is approved, our professional voice talents will record your phone messages for your system (we provide a free on hold player for your PBX phone system with our Full Service Options, or format them for your specific VoIP system).  If you help customers in different ways at different times of year, we’ll even keep your messages working hard throughout the year with free updates on a schedule that works best for you and your marketing plan.

Take the first step and find out improving on AT&T Music on hold

Let’s set up a Strategy Session to talk about your business and your goals, and find out how telephone advertising can work for you.  Call us to set up a Free 15-minute session at (800) 862-8896.  In New York call (212) 355-6980.  In Stamford or Norwalk, CT call (203) 655-3920.  Your business is on the line. Call today.

Prefer to email?  Click here to email us!

 

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Best Phone Hold Music : what’s do you want to offer callers?

It’s funny to think that the best phone hold music…really isn’t hold music. But that’s another story.

It all started way back in the 1980s.  That was when AT&T introduced the Merlin Phone System, and for the first time, normal businesses could play music on hold. For years only “Reservations” centers for large airlines, hotels, etc. played music on hold. When call volumes were high, callers were often asked to wait for “the next available agent.”  Calls were answered “in the order in which they were received” while callers waited in the “call queue.”  That’s when callers heard music on hold.

Best music phone hold music becomes an issue

Fast forward to more advanced phone systems: businesses everywhere could play music on hold.  Most businesses had two choices: pay “Muzak” for expensive licensed music, or take their chances by playing the (unlicensed) radio on hold.  (most chose this risky option, and got away with it).

Playing the radio had one advantage: it was free.  The downside was that radios often become staticy, especially in a room loaded with telephone and other electronics.  But radio is filled with commercials and “shock jocks” so you never really know what your customers and prospects are listening to.  Maybe even an ad for your competition!

But back to choosing the best phone hold music

#holdhappens.  We all know it.  Research proves it.  Our own experience calling businesses becomes more frustrating every day.  Hold time is a waste of time.

Today, Muzak is actually gone. (I guess no one really liked “Elevator” or “Dentist” music!)  So how can you choose the best hold music?

The answer is obvious: if you don’t want your caller to sit in silence, wondering if they’ve been cut off, you play something on hold. Radio is no better a choice now than it was 30 years ago.  So what do you give your callers to listen to while waiting?

If you have a VoIP system like Cisco, your callers probably hear infamous music that every has heard…and mocks.  Cloud systems like 8×8, Ring Central, or Grasshopper give you standard music.  But that can be fixed.

When’s the last time you heard your favorite song while you were sitting on hold?  Something you really enjoyed listening to? Probably never.  So what’s your best choice?

Even better than the best phone hold music

Why not give your callers something that they want, and that you want them to have? Customers (and prospects) call you when they want or need something.  When they want help.  Why not start giving it to them? Tell them about how you help your customers, and solve their problems.  Tell them about your newest offerings, and how that’s even better.  Tell them stories about success stories, and how they can be one, too. Tell them with Informer Messages on hold.

Informer Messages replace even the best hold music with information: short messages, each with a purpose to educate your callers or start solving their problems.  Give them “tech tips” or “answers to FAQ.”  Give them breaking news about advances in your industry that could help them.  Tell them about how you’re uniquely positioned to give them what they need.

Informer Messages on hold are custom written with your company, your goals, and your customers in mind.  We write them for you after learning all about you.  We do this by asking “Discovery Questions” that give us insight into your day to day business and long term goals.

When the best phone hold music isn’t good enough…

Call The Informer to find out how others in your industry use this marketing tool, and how you can benefit, too. Call for your Discovery Session today. In New York call 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920. Nationwide call 800-862-8896.  And give your callers something better.

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Different Ways Messages on Hold Play: Two Key Distinctions

There are two different ways messages on hold play:  on a PBX telephone system, they play  an “on hold player.” This music on hold device is an add-on option to the phone system that plugs into a MOH (music on hold) jack (or port), and will “loop” or continually play your messages.  The on hold recording plays continually, 24/7 so there’s no real “beginning” or “end.”  The second method is different: your on hold message plays on VoIP phones: your messages play in the cloud, and usually start from the very beginning each time a phone caller is placed on hold.

Different ways messages on hold play means…

The systems that they play on are different.  Neither is better or worse if you plan in advance.  Writing effective messages on hold for the different kinds of systems means planning ahead for the best effect.

When your messages “loop” each messages stands on its own.  You can use this to your advantage: develop a script of 6, or 8, or 10 different messages, each on a different subject: you can give helpful hints, offer solutions to your customers’ common problems, or talk about the features and benefits of your other products and services.  Telling several different short stories lets you educate your caller about more of the ways that you help them, and can help you build your business.

In spite of the different ways messages on hold play…

Their job is the same, whether your messages play from the beginning of the recording or start at a random message: they’re there to help you sound more professional and to make every phone call more productive.

What would you like to accomplish today?  On hold advertising helps you reach more of your goals.  Think about it: marketing’s goal is to get your prospects interested, educate them interested in how you can help them, and help them make the best choice: buying from you.

Your phone recordings aren’t supposed to work all alone: they’re a part of your overall marketing plan.  Properly designed, they reinforce your other advertising, brochures, website and email blasts.  They can remind your customers about your promotions, product introductions, and services that they might be interested in. And they can do it in the time that your telephone callers now waste waiting on hold, in dead silence, or listening to music on hold.

What would you…

…like to accomplish today?  What would you like your customers and your best prospects to know about you so you can help them better, and stand out from your competition. Find out how you can accomplish more in a Free Strategy Session by calling (800) 862-8896.  In New York call (212) 355-6980.  In Connecticut call (203) 655-3920.  Call today and start accomplishing more tomorrow.

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How Long Should an On Hold Script Be? Are you making this mistake?

How long should an on hold script be?  More is better, right?  If my “on hold” messages help me sell, giving my callers more information will increase sales, right?

It’s not that simple.

How Long Should an On Hold Script Be?

There are a few things that we know about businesses that get telephone calls:

• The more calls they receive, the more phone callers will have to wait “on hold.” AT&T research showed that in the past about 69% of your business telephone calls had to wait on hold.  And that number is only increasing
• A professional on hold message can give your callers information about where to find information on your website, educate them about your products and services, mention specials and incentives, and keep callers interested
• The time that customers spend on hold can either work for you, or against you.

How long does your average phone caller spend on hold?  In most businesses the estimates range from 30 seconds to 1 minute.  In “call centers” where hundreds of callers talk with telemarketing representatives, we’ve all been stuck waiting much longer.

You can make the time that telephone callers have to wait more interesting and more productive by giving them information that they want, and that you want them to have, with messages on hold.  The best messages on hold

• Start with a strategy, because it’s the most important part of the process (as you’ll see later): what do you want to accomplish? What are your callers interested in?  Why are they calling?
• Use that information to create well written script
• The script should be conversational, written with language that your customer typically uses (not overly technical: that won’t impress anyone!)
• Use a series of short messages, up to about 30 seconds each. Longer than that and your caller will actually retain (remember) less.  Keep it short and to the point
• Don’t try to overwhelm the caller: after each message include at least 10 seconds of music so the caller can actually think about what they’ve heard.
• Are planned considering your average hold time: the longer it is, the longer the pause between messages.

Use the information and you’ll see how long should an on hold script be

How many messages should you include in your script?  While your caller waits they’ll hear each phone advertisement.  If you have “normal hold time” of about a minute, your typical caller will hear one or two voice messages.  If your message script contains 10 messages, that’s 10-20% of the ideas you are promoting.  But if your on hold advertising includes 20 messages, they’ll hear only 5-10% of your messages.  There’s only a 5-10% chance that your typical caller will hear your most important message.

The real problem with how long should an on hold script be

If you have one really important message…the one that helps you make the sale…or the one that makes the sale most profitable…you want your caller to hear it, right?  But if you have 10 onhold messages in your script, then you only have a 10% chance that your typical caller will hear it!

What should you do?

Go back to your strategy.  What do you want to accomplish?  You’ve got the choice: quantity or quality.  And if you have lots of messages you really want to give your callers, consider if there are different times of year your callers are most receptive to each, and how changing messages periodically (with message on hold updates) might be the answer you need.

Not sure if you have good reasons to update your messages?  Take a look at our “76 Reasons To Update Your Messages on hold.”

Questions about how long should an on hold script be?

Call now for a 15-minute strategy session, or click here to register, and answers that you can use today.  In New York call 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920.  Nationwide and in Canada call 800-862-8896

 

The Informer develops the most effective on hold systems with custom written on hold scripts, recorded by top voice over professionals, and mixed with telephone hold music in the background. We make giving your callers information easy on hold, with the proactive on hold service that keeps your messages focus, productive, and updated all year long in Connecticut (Stamford, Norwalk Hartford, Bridgeport, Danbury and across the state), New York (New York City, White Plains, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and across the state), and nationwide.

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Update your messages on hold: are you missing this opportunity?

Update your messages on hold because your customers and your best prospects want to know how you can help them best.

 

 

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Update your messages on hold: don’t lose this valuable opportunity

Update your messages on hold today.  Why?  Because your customers and your best prospects want to know how you can help them, and how you’re different from your competition.

All your updates are free with any Informer Full Service Plan, so email or call us today: 800-862-8896.

Need ideas about what to talk about?  Check our “76 Profitable Ideas” list, or call us and we’ll work on them together.

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Best Messages on hold in New York follow these 6 simple rules

The best messages on hold in New York business are created by following these 5 simple rules.

1. Know what you want to accomplish.  It really pays to think about this in advance.  So think about your goals before you start anything else.
2. Develop a strategy for reaching your goals: First, consider who’s calling you: are they customers?  Prospects?  What does your typical caller want?  Why are they calling, and why are they doing it today?  Do they have a problem they want to solve?  Are they booking a reservation or appointment?  What’s the best way to appeal to your customers and prospects?
   The more you put your hold time to use, the less annoying it will be.  Less frustrating.  And time will seem to go faster.
   Are most of your callers existing customers?  Are the additional or new ways that you can help them?  Inform them.  Educate them.
3. Write the script: short messages work better than longer ones, but don’t worry: you can include a bunch of them.  How many? It’s not science, but the longer your callers wait on hold (or in a queue) the more you can include…just don’t overwhelm your callers.  Remember, messages play differently on PBX and VoIP Systems (click here for more details) so write your script to work with your specific system.
   

   After the script is perfect: here are the next steps

4. Recording: when the script is final, and approved by everyone, a high quality recording will help you sound more professional.  We record Auto Attendant (or IVR) telephone greetings at the same time for uniform quality
5. Updates: Life changes.  Business changes. And things change faster than ever. When your customers’ needs/desires/problems change, it’s best to update your messages to focus on their concerns.
   “To be terrific you’ve got to be specific,” so talk about specific models, seasons, and needs. And because your callers won’t appreciate outdated information, refresh them on a regular schedule.
6. Format: there are lots of different formats for messages on hold: from “legacy” formats like cassette and CD, to mp3 for current digital playback systems, to  several kings of .wav files for most VoIP Phone systems.

These simple steps are the “recipe for success” for on hold service that makes a difference.

Best Messages on hold in New York Area

You’ve had to wait “on hold” enough that you’ve heard silence, music, and all kinds of messages on hold: good, bad, and ugly. Most onhold messages in Manhattan are just generic, filled with apologies for making the caller wait too long, and asking that you wait for “the next available representative.”  New Yorkers are impatient.  They don’t like to be asked to wait.

Hold on to your callers

Your callers are your customers, or your prospects.  They call because they want help.  So why not give it to them every chance you get.  Right now, your hold time is a lost opportunity.

Most on hold recordings are either generic excuses for making you wait on hold, or “on hold advertising” that keeps trying to sell you something.  Neither approach is very successful.  But you already know that from your own (painful) experience.

What goes into the best messages on hold in New York?

What makes them the best in NYC? Messages on hold are a marketing tool, and like the rest of your marketing it takes thought and planning.  And like your other marketing tactics, it may take a specialist.  You already use a website designer for your website, a graphic artist and a copywriter for your brochure, and marketing consultant for your overall marketing plans for reaching new customers in New York.  Marketing Messages are one more weapon in your arsenal, so you’ll hit your target more often and get the results you want when you work with a pro who specializes in them.

Finding the right on hold service that will create an on hold message recording with a top voice over artist will make all the difference.  Couple them with professional phone greetings and the best on hold music, and you’re on your way.

For more information on the best messages on hold in New York for your specific business, call now.

For more information click here, or call, in New York, 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920.  Nationwide call 800-862-8896.

New York Businesses need the best marketing messages for their business phone systems because competition is so tough.  Business phone advertising beats your competition in Manhattan, SoHo, The Theater District, Harlem, Midtown, Greenwich Village, Flushing, Jamaica, Upper East Side, Upper Westside, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Astoria, Little Italy, Turtle Bay, Tribeca, Williamsburg, DUMBO, The East Village, Union Square, Long Island City, and throughout New York’s Five Boros.

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On Hold Marketing: would you like to sound more professional?

On hold marketing gives you the edge that you’ve been looking for: with the right on hold messages, you can sound more professional and accomplish more on every phone call.  It gives you the ability to reach your customers and your best prospects in completely unique new way.  Most most advertising is designed to say “look at me” and get you noticed.  On hold marketing says “welcome” and show your business telephone callers why they should take the next step…on the way to a sale.

On hold marketing has a special job.  Up to 96% of all marketing is devoted to helping you stand out in a crowd and get you noticed.  Your messages on hold comes into play when consumers are interested enough in you to want to know more.  They’re probably not ready to buy, but they’re ready to listen.

Putting on hold marketing to use

Think about your business telephone callers: they’re your customers and your best prospects.  They’ve taken the step to pick up the phone and call you.  You can think of every phone call as “a call for help.”  Now you can start giving them the help they need, even if they have to wait on hold for a while.

And #holdhappens.  According to AT&T Research, up to 69% of business telephone calls are placed on hold. Think about your own experience: the last time you called a business with a question or problem, you probably had to wait in a “queue” for “the next available representative.” Or you were answered by a real person, but later asked to “please hold.” It happens in your business, too.  It’s a real problem, but it can be fixed.

What are your on hold marketing goals?

The first step in developing the most success onhold messages is asking questions: about your business, your products and services, and (most importantly) your customers: how do you help them?  What are their problems?

With this information, we can consider your goals, and develop a strategy to accomplish them.  Don’t worry: we do it all, and its part of your Informer Service.  We’ll use this information to write your script, and continue to revise it until it’s perfect.  After you approve your script, our professional voice talents will record your phone messages for your system.  We provide a free on hold player for your PBX phone system with our Full Service Options, or format them for your specific VoIP system.

If you help customers in different ways at different times of year, we’ll even keep your messages working hard throughout the year.  You get free updates on a schedule that works best for you and your marketing plan.

Take the first step and find out about on hold marketing

Let’s set up a Strategy Session to talk about your business and your goals, and find out how telephone advertising can work for you.  Click here to sign up. Or Call us to set up a Free 15-minute session at (800) 862-8896.  In New York call (212) 355-6980.  In Stamford or Norwalk, CT call (203) 655-3920.  Your business is on the line. Call today.

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Dermatology Marketing Idea that helps you increase consults

Looking for a new dermatology marketing idea?  You’ve tried everything: a website, a Facebook page, blogging about your specialty, a logo, direct mail advertising, and networking with other medical practices.  But you’ve done these for years. And every other dermatologist in Manhattan try the same marketing techniques.  New York medical practices face more competition than ever.  So what else can you do to grow your practice? Is there a new way to advertise and reach your current and future patients?

There are only 3 ways to grow your practice

There are only three ways to grow your practice: find new patients, help existing patients more frequently, or help existing patients in new ways.  Finding new patients is the way most practices try to grow. Unfortunately, that’s the hardest way to do it.
There’s a better way.

Dermatology Marketing Idea to help existing patients

You can help your patients in lots of different ways.  But if you’re like most dermatologists, patients come to you with a problem or a request.  Once you help them you may not see them again.  That’s a lost opportunity.  Why not educate your patients about more of your of your specialties, and most advanced new treatments.  But how?

Use this dermatology marketing idea to increase consults

Telling your patients about existing new treatments is easy, with Informer Messages on hold.  Informer Messages are the dermatology marketing tool that gives your patients information that they want, when they’re most interested in learning about it.  This gentle communications tool replaces the boring music on hold that telephone callers hear when they have to wait on “hold” with brief, focused messages about your practice, and your specialties.  While onhold, your callers learn more about your practice, and the ways that you’ve helped other patients.

Let patients know more about your practice with this dermatology marketing idea

What’s the most effective way you have of letting patients know about additional services?  Brochures in the waiting room?  Flyers at checkout.  Try the marketing tool that will inspire your patients when they’re most interested in booking a consult.  Informer Messages on hold.

Informer Messages work on your business phone system: PBX, VoIP, or Cloud based, including advanced new Cisco systems.  This on hold marketing tool will use a script specifically written for your practice, and your callers, and be paired with phone greetings recorded by a professional voice over. Your phone message recording will have royalty free music mixed in the background so they’re pleasant.

Find out about the dermatology marketing idea that works!

Book your free 15-minute strategy consultation to find out how to grow your dermatology practice faster on every phone call.  In New York contact our office at (212) 355-6980. In Westchester County and outside NYC call 800-862-8896.  And in Connecticut’s Fairfield County call 203-655-3920.  Call today.

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AT&T Syn248 – Adding a Professional Marketing Message on hold

The AT&T Syn248 Phone System is the most advanced business telephone system of the Syn Line.  It’s a true step up from previous models (such as the SynJ which offers only 4 lines and 11 extensions) for small and medium sized businesses (SMB) that need up to 24 extensions, and is scalable with 1 to 8 phone lines, so it can grow with your business.  It’s easy to install and use, but provides features previously available on more sophisticated and complicated business telephone systems.

The Syn248 is a “do it yourself, plug and talk solution” with just two simple components: the SB35025 Deskset and the SB35010 Analog Gateway.  The system simplifies telecommunications with intuitive PBX functions, and can use marketing messages on hold

AT&T Syn248 Messages on hold

In the past businesses needed a PBX Phone system to offer callers music on hold or on hold messages.  The Syn248 makes “system wide” messages on hold quick and easy to hook up. All the system requires is one SB35025 Corded Desk Set with its 3.5mm audio jack.

The Syn248 requirements for Messages on hold

The only system requirement for the phone system to accept messages on hold is a SB35025.  This is the only desk phone model with the jack for your digital on hold player, which is included for free with Informer Messages on hold Full Service Options.

Connecting your messages on hold to AT&T Syn248 Phone System

ATT has designed this new communications tool as a networked system, so connecting your messages on hold to one base unit means that your marketing messages will play on all extensions, and on every phone line, every time a call is placed on hold.

Benefits of Marketing Messages on hold for your AT&T Syn248 Phone

ATT has made this system with PBX level features affordable to buy and free to (self) install.  You can make the system a more powerful business marketing tool by adding professional onhold messages.  The Informer makes powerful and effective on hold marketing easy with our complete service:
– Free Discovery Session to brainstorm about your best opportunities
– Strategy Development
– Script Writing and Revision
– Professional Voiceover Recording
– Licensed Background Music
– and every Full Service Option includes use of a Free On Hold Player and Free Message updates on a schedule that works best for your business, and your marketing plan.

Make your Syn248 Phone System a more effective marketing tool that will help you Sound More Professional and Sell More on Every Phone Call.

Reserve your Free 15-minute Discovery Session to discover how you can make your “hold” time into your most profitable new marketing opportunity.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920 and In New York call 212-355-6980.  And nationwide: Call (800) 862-8896. Do it today.

 

Get Started Now
with a more powerful marketing tool:

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Spanish Voice Over Recordings can be added to your Hold Message

Hardware Store Marketing : is yours keeping up with the times?

Hardware Store Marketing has come a long way since we were kids.  I can remember the local neighborhood hardware where the owners knew my name…and that was right in New York City, not a small town.  The store is long gone, and there’s a nail salon in its place.

In those days the store sold all the basics: high quality tools, and supplies that seemed to cover everything we needed.

Today, life is different…and much more challenging for New York hardware store owners: stores have grown to be huge warehouses, filled with housewares, plumbing supplies, and even appliances and furnishings.  And to support that inventory, marketing has to bring in a steady stream of customers.

Hardware Store Marketing now includes…

…lots of advertising and promotional tools that didn’t exist just a few years ago: Loyalty Programs, YouTube Channels where you demonstrate tips, Social Media posts to “DIY” customers, and a website armed with SEO/SEM/Retargeting and more.  Where retailers could thrive by offering quality, service and value, they now have to try window displays, hold “hands on” events, and involve the community, just to try to keep up with Big Box Home Stores and the impersonal (but cheap) internet.

Make every experience better: improve your Hardware Store Marketing

Here are a few tips that may help improve your marketing plan:

• Make your store a destination: give workshops for both kids and adults.
• Talk with your customers and get to know them, and why them come in. Try to recognize specialty items they need, that aren’t found on the internet
• Make it personal: anything you can sell, they can find on the Internet. So do what websites can’t: introduce yourself to customers, and if they’re receptive, talk about what they’re buying and why.
• Staff your store with knowledgeable employees who also “get” how to provide great service.
• Be attractive both outside your store (to attract business) and inside (it’s a key to increasing retail sales in any store)
• Does your location have foot traffic passing by? Tempt them to come in with Window Displays
• What happens when your phone rings? It probably does right when you’re helping a customer at the counter…so the caller has to wait on “hold.”
  Hold on to the caller, and make the experience a good one with custom marketing messages on hold.  Click here to learn more about them.

Hardware Store Marketing has to be good.

The days of assuming that your neighbors will shop at your store are gone.  They’re just as likely to drive to the local Warehouse Depot Store, or order from Amazon.  Marketing is your key to survival.  Make the most of every experience.

For a list of great articles on Retail and Hardware Marketing click here.  They work in New York State, and wherever your store is.

Or find out how advertising on hold can make your telephone system a more efficient marketing tool, click here.  Or call us and we’ll tell you more: In NYC call 212-355-6980. Nationwide, call 800-862-8896.

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Timing Is Everything: are you reaching prospects at the right time?

Timing is everything.
In love, in sports, and in business.

Timing is Everything in Business

Let’s leave the first two ideas for someone else to cover: we don’t have enough space here.  But when it comes to business every salesman (who’s paying attention) can tell you right away if this is the right time to talk with a prospect.  Prospects are only receptive when they’re receptive.  Trying to talk someone into something that’s not on their “to do” list.  Or on their radar.  They’re not interested.  Especially in New York.

That’s because the only timing that’s important is their timing.

Think about it: think about all those great websites you’ve visited in the past.  All the “send me information” buttons that you’ve clicked on.  And all those emails you now get every few days.  They were interesting when you were looking for information. But now?

Every morning we open our “in” boxes and do the same thing
Delete.
Delete.
Delete.

So does your prospective customer.  Your prospects get just as many emails as you do.  Most people average over 100 every day.  Many (like me) get more than double that.

Timing isn’t just important.  Timing is everything!

Most of those email blasts you send out never get a second glance.  They’re just deleted.  According to Constant Contact, the average “open” rate is just 10-15%.

How to Profit from knowing that “Timing is Everything”

Why not talk to your prospects when they’re interested in your help?  When they want to learn more.  How can you do that?

Every time your phone rings, it’s “a call for help.”  Customers and prospects trying to find out if you can solve their problems.  So you’ve got to make the most of every call.

You can, with Informer Marketing Messages on hold.  These on hold ads give your caller more of the information they want, right when they want it.  With a custom written on hold script, this onhold tool offers a voice message that delivers your message.  Your telephone message and hold music to give phone callers information about your products and services and how you’re different from your competition.

What would you like your prospects to know about if you had the chance?  Get the chance:  learn how in a Free On Hold Opportunity Analysis, by calling 212-355-6980 in New York City.  In Stamford Connecticut call 203-655-3920.  Nationwide call 800-862-8896.  Now’s the time to call.

Because Timing Is Everything.

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Pediatric Messages on hold: the New York Pediatrician’s Newest Tool

Pediatric Messages on hold give your New York pediatric practice a new opportunity.  Every day, your phone rings: parents are calling with many of the same questions, about walk-in hours, well visits, shots, symptoms, hours…every day.  There are times of day when your front desk staff is overwhelmed with the telephone ringing while patients are checking in.  Then there are forms to fill out and Hipaa requirements to explain and remind parents about. There’s got to be a more efficient way!

Pediatric Messages on hold are the solution

Providing information on hold is the answer.  Simply replace your music on hold on your phones with on hold information, and your front office productivity can soar, and parent frustration can decrease.  Custom written holdmessages address the issues and questions that your practice faces, and tackle them for you.  A well written hold script is the new information source that you’ve been looking for.

Busy medical practices in New York use pediatric messages on hold

Pediatricians in New York all face the same challenges: they’re busier than anywhere in the country: you know that the right information is the best medicine, so why not use wasted on hold time to start the process?  Getting started with pediatric messages on hold is easy.

We start by learning about your practice, your providers, and your biggest challenges.  Do you have a new website with helpful features and guidelines?  Let’s tell your callers about it.  Are important forms available for download?  Everyone saves time when parents know.  You’ll find that parents are less frustrated when they’re not delayed unnecessarily.

What’s new at the practice? New providers?  Introduce them and provide interesting bio information.  New services?  New there ways you help your patients?  Are you active in the community?  Tell everyone.  Are there important dates such as flu clinics coming?  Remind them.

We’ll get to know about your callers.  Many of these parents have the same questions and concerns.  Why not start to help them in time they’re now wasting on hold?  Parents are busier than ever, and they’ll appreciate the help saving them time.

Then we’ll do everything for you: from developing a strategy to writing a first draft of your script, and continuing to revise it until it’s perfect.  We’ll record and send broadcast quality messages in the format that perfect for your system, traditional PBX, state of the art VoIP, or anything in between.

We’ll keep your pediatric messages on hold updated

Times change, your practice changes, your patients needs change…so your pediatric on hold messages change, on a schedule that works for you.  We’ll remind you, both by email and on the phone, and provide helpful ideas.  Our proactive reminders are unique in the industry, because we know that the more you get from your messages, the more you’ll value them.

With Informer Messages on hold there’s no long term commitment, and the results are guaranteed.  We have to earn your business every day.  Why would you settle for anything less?

Looking at pediatric messages on hold?

Look closer and you’ll see the difference.  For a free 15-minute consult to find out how they can work for you click here for information, or, in New York call 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 2-30655-3920.  Nationwide call 800-862-8896.

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Phone Messages should actually help you…and your caller.

So you have Phone Messages on hold.
That’s great.
But why do you have them?

Phone Messages were invented to…

Messages on hold were first invented to be a marketing tool.  Marketing’s job is to effectively communicate what you do, how you do it, and the best reasons to work with you to your potential customer.

But somewhere along the way, marketing stopped doing this.  Here’s how it happened:
A century or two ago, advertising was all local.  You worked with people who were close to you, because that was your only choice.  So advertising was “comparative.” It gave all the reasons to work with you.  It was mainly factual.  It helped consumers decide.

As products were invented or improved, it was easy for consumers to make the decision to buy from you.  Ford’s Model T or Bell’s Telephone were unique…and the only choice!

Then came the age of “Mad Men.” With the invention of television, and eventually the internet, things changed.  Advertising was now limited to a 60-second commercial…and then a 30-second spot.  And the message turned from factual to simplistic: filled with jingles and slogans.  Creativity replaced facts. You heard memorable ads like…

• Ring around the collar
• Plop plop, fizz fizz…
• We’re “the wings of man”
• You’re in good hands

Today’s advertising stinks.  So do today’s brochures, websites, and emails.  Take a look at any ad (like your own messages on hold) and ask why it’s filled with clichés like “over 120 years of combined experience,” “our friendly and knowledgeable staff,” or “our massive inventory.”

But your customer is left with a tough decision: why should they buy anything from you?  How can they make the right decision?

Your phone messages are just as bad

Here’s one way to evaluate your advertising on hold: does it get a response?  Do your callers ask about what they’ve heard?  Or does it just waste your callers’ time?

How to tell if you have the best Phone Messages

Writing the on scripts that actually succeed takes time and effort.  Most people don’t bother.  But when you ask your caller to “please hold” are your phone messages simply annoying your caller?

Don’t settle for clichés or empty phrases.  Expect more from your marketing messages. Find out just how much you can get from them in a free 15-minute Discovery Session.  Click here to schedule a time, or call for immediate service: In New York call 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920.  And nationwide call 800-862-8896.

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Weave Telephone System Upgrade: Make Weave a Marketing Tool

Weave Telephone Systems have been showing up at an increasing number of Dental Practices.  Why?  Because Dental Offices are so busy, and need all the help they can get providing the customer service that their patients (and potential patients) want and deserve.  New York Dental offices get so many phone calls that it’s time for a change!

Dentists need a simple way to keep their patient records organized, schedule and remind patients about appointments.  Weave looks like the only targeted tool to do this that’s designed for dentists.  The VoIP phone system even tries to start more productive conversations with your patients by highlighting relevant information about them, right while you’re on the phone with them.

Weave Telephone Results can be improved

Weave is a business phone system, and really means business. But there’s more that the IP phone (internet protocol phone) can accomplish than was imagined by the VoIP provider.

Highlighting key patient information can be helpful.  But everyone knows that questions posed by the patient are even more powerful: that’s because your callers’ questions reveal what’s on their minds…not what you’d like them to think about.

Marketing Suggestions Messages for your Weave Telephone

Like most busy NYC dental offices, your front desk staff must often ask your callers to “please hold.”  That’s life.  It’s what happens next that can make a difference.

What do your callers hear while they’re on hold?

Silence?  The “default” Weave Music on hold?  That’s why hold time is so boring…frustrating…and can cause callers to hang up.

Why not use marketing messages on hold to inform your callers about more of the ways that you can help them.  Today’s dentist helps patients in so many more ways than just a few years ago: Invisalign, Implants, diagnoses with high tech X-rays, Lasers for Cavity Detection, thinner veneers…the list goes on and on.  But your patient often doesn’t know about all your new specialties.

Educate your patient while they’re on your Weave Telephone’s hold system

Give your callers something better to listen to while they’re on hold: Informer On hold messages.  They give your callers information that they want, and that you want them to have.  They give you a new way to inform patients about the newest techniques you offer, and the benefits to their oral health.

They’re free ads that promote your training and your specialties. They let you tell your patients about the best ways that you can help them.  They provide information that your callers will value, when they’re most focused on their oral health.

Upgrade your Weave Telephone

Interested in offering your patients something better on hold, and making your Weave phones more productive?  Call today to schedule a Free Consultation, and discover how you can accomplish more on every phone call, and build your practice. In New York call 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920.  And Nationwide call 800-862-8896

Informer Messages are hard at work in New York’s Boros: Manhattan, Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island.  They’re informing callers on Long Island in Nassau and Suffolk, as well as Westchester and Rockland Counties.

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Onhold Messages help you sell more, and sound more professional

Onhold messages?  Have you ever tried them?  They’re recorded information that you sometimes hear on “hold” when you call a business.  They replace music on hold with information.  Sometimes it’s generic (and annoying!).  Sometimes they’re custom recorded.
Here’s how onhold messages can help you sell more and sound more professional.

 Onhold messages should help you and your callers

The pioneers of using messages on hold (messages are called by different names!) were large reservation centers, such as airlines and hotels, about 30 years ago.  That’s when Informer Messages started delivering our clients’ messages to thousands of callers every day.  Airlines had lots of interesting and important information to give their New York callers:

• Lots of new flights
• tempting new destinations
• convenient new airports they served
• loyalty programs, and
• add-on and upgrade offers

These companies’ call centers could analyze their calls and recognized that callers had to wait “in the queue” or on “hold” every day.  So they put the time to use.  In addition to keeping callers happier (so they didn’t hang up) the best messages actually increased sales revenue.

We’ve worked with airlines at New York’s JFK Airport such as:

 

You can use onhold messages, too.

You may not run an airline, but you can benefit from phone advertising, too. #holdhappens.  When it does, you’ve got two choices:

• hope that callers don’t get frustrated and hang up, or
• do something about annoying hold time.

Onhold messages give you a new opportunity

When your phone rings, it’s a call for help.  Your customers need service or to place an order.  Your prospects want to know if you can help them.  So why not tell them.

What would you like your callers to know about?  Your newest products and services?  How you can solve their problems?  What makes you different from your competition?  Well written and produced on hold messages can do all this and more.  They can tell callers about seasonal products and promotions.  They can give product use tips.  They can improve your customer experience.

How hard are onhold messages to design?

Easy, when you work with an expert.  Call The Informer for a Free 15-minute Discovery Session, to find out about how others in your industry already benefit from giving their telephone callers on hold messages, and how you can, too.  In New York call 212-355-6980.  In Connecticut call 203-655-3920, and reach us Nationwide at 800-862-8896.

Call today, or click here for more information, and start helping your callers better by next week.

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