Reopening your business? Now’s the time to plan: 8 Tips you need today

Reopening your business?  Most US States will begin reopening within days (CNN) to start making up for lost time.  In Hartford, Connecticut Governor Lamont is targeting May 20.  Now’s the time to plan your reopening strategy: this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get a head start on your competition.  Here are 8 tips on what you should do today.

Reopening is more than just opening your doors again

Sure, you can open your doors in Stamford for Norwalk and hope that business will return.  And for some “favorite” restaurants and retailers, you’ll see customers walk in.  But it will take work to try to build up to where we were.  For others there’s a “new normal” that will create winners…and losers.

Here are 8 tips that you can use today to create a brighter future:

1. Facebook can remind customers: yes, they loved you.  But it’s been months since they’ve visited you.  Create a list of photos your products, of your business in action (your storefront, your office, your workers) in action.
2. Instagram: do you have a “photogenic” product?  Or photos of the services you provide in action?  Post the on Instagram.  Even service companies can do it.   We’re starting this, too.
3. LinkedIn: do you sell to businesses, or business people?  Then you’ve got to be on LinkedIn.  The first steps:  create your own personal profile.  Fill it out completely.  I have a guide that gives you lots of simple ways to make it more complete (email me to receive it).  Then start a business profile and fill it with helpful information.  Be sure to fill it with “keywords” your customers search.  Finally, connect with all your business associates to gain recognition.
4. Google My Business: the first step is to Google your business.  Is there a Google Profile of your business in the right column of the results page?  If not, you’re not registered with Google. Either register or email us and we’ll show you the fastest way to accomplish it.
5. Reviews: did you know that 97% if consumers read online reviews?  And half of them only trust businesses with 4- or 5-star reviews.  So reach out to your customers to ask them for reviews.  Need help?  Email us and we’ll help.
6. Do your customers call you?  If you’re answering the phone personally, that’s great.  Let customers know that you’re open or will be reopening your business soon.  When callers are placed on hold, let them hear more messages on hold giving all the best reasons to start working with you when you do open for business again. Want to sound professional?  Ask us about custom written on hold messages
7. Do you have a storefront?  Or a visible building?  Get your signage ready with outdoor banners, vehicle wraps, and eye-catching lawn signs so you can used them the moment you’re ready.
8. Guerrilla Marketing idea: why not distribute “door hangers” (you can also put them on mailboxes, railings, etc. to maintain social distancing), or let the post office do it for you with EDDM (Every Door Direct Marketing) postcards that only go to target neighborhoods.

This is no time to be bored!

There are stories that everyone in Connecticut is sitting home, bored, doing jigsaw puzzles and “putting on the COVID 19” (just like the Freshman 15!).  There’s no reason: there’s valuable work to be done when you’re reopening a business.  Looking for more tips?  Email us for ideas.  Or, in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport call (203) 655-3920.  Throughout Connecticut and nationwide call (800) 862-8896 today, so you’re ready when you open your doors.

       5 Year Chamber Ambassador

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Add On Sales for Restaurants: the key to increasing profits

To survive COVID-19, add on sales for restaurants could be the most reliable solution for increasing your average check, and increasing profits.  The Harvard Business Review has reported that “one of the best ways to increase sales” is to sell more to each customer.  In the restaurant industry, it’s worked for McDonalds, and will work for you.

Here’s a way to increase your average order.

Add On Sales for Restaurants

The restaurant business in Stamford has changed.  And this may be the “new normal” for quite some time.  While many restaurants will close permanently, the survivors will be the ones that find new ways to survive.

Restaurants that are known for convenient takeout service continue to prosper, even during “self-isolation.”  Transforming your restaurant to deliver more meals by takeout and curbside delivery costs almost nothing.  Good servers can quickly adjust to taking orders over the phone.  It’s an economical way to keep more staff working profitably.  And it’s less expensive than the alternative.

Cutting Expenses

When the economy was booming, paying 40% fees to Door Dash, or GrubHub made sense.  Today, those expenses can’t be supported.  Innovation is key to higher profit sales.

Providing Service

After Self Isolating all day, customers will actually appreciate the “personal touch” that simply talking with your staff member offers.  But what about during the Connecticut “evening rush hour” when multiple calls come in, and might have to wait “on hold”?

“Hold” time can be transformed into a marketing opportunity, by giving your telephone callers new ideas about menu items, and side dishes that will make their meal even better.  When your server isn’t visiting your table to talk about today’s specials, informative “menu messages” on hold can do the job for you.

Informer Menu Messages on hold can tell customers about your most profitable menu items, your add-on sides, or what makes your restaurant special.  They give you a unique opportunity to communicate with your customer, and tempt them with delicious sounding add-ons.

At Sushi-K Bar, owner Michael Belz uses Informer Messages on hold with one specific goal: increasing his average order.  His Menu Messages quickly let you know that they’re not just sushi: they offer healthy “carbless” rolls, food that’s grilled not fried, and hundreds of unique rolls, along with salads and side dishes.  His Informer Messages increased inquiries, and sales of his most profitable add on dishes.  Here’s a sample:

Increasing your average check means more profits for your restaurant, right when you need them most.  Find out how Informer Menu Messages work, or get the recipe that will increase your profits by next week.  In Stamford or Norwalk, and throughout Connecticut call (203) 655-3920.  Nationwide call us at (800) 862-8896.

         5 Year Stamford Chamber Ambassador

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Curbside Pickup Service can be more profitable with this tool

After a month with 90% of Connecticut residents now staying at home, restaurants need a new way to survive.  Curbside pickup is the hottest trend in restaurant service, convenience, and safety.  Here’s an idea that will make it more profitable.

Curbside Pickup Service can be more profitable

Delivering to curbside used to be a nice perk, but new social distancing regulations have made it a necessity…for the wellbeing of both the public and your businesses.

Unfortunately restaurant delivery apps aren’t free: 30% fees and delayed payments from the most popular ordering services, do they make the most sense?  They also decrease a restaurant’s “personal connection” with their guests.  In order to preserve needed profits, restaurants have an old tool at their disposal: your telephone.

Restaurant Apps aren’t the only answer

With just basic training, your cashier can be your newest server, helping customers order.
But what happens when more than one call comes in at the same time?  Don’t some callers have to wait on hold?

In Stamford restaurants have an affordable new marketing tool

“Hold” time can be transformed into a marketing opportunity, by giving your telephone callers new ideas about menu items, and side dishes that will make their meal even better.  When your server isn’t visiting your table to talk about today’s specials, informative “menu messages” on hold can do the job for you.

Restaurants ranging from inexpensive Pizzerias and Blockheads Burritos to Michelin Star winning Picholine Restaurant  (now closed) have used messages on hold to give callers tasty ideas and “add on” menu suggestions.

Nick Presher from Picholine called their Informer Messages “a great tool for increasing business like holiday specials.”  Blockheads wanted to increase their average order, and their Informer Messages on hold did it for them.  “Requests for starters and desserts shot up when we added these to our menu messages.  We sell affordable burritos, so we can actually increase revenue by 70%.”  Informer Messages can work the same way for your Stamford restaurant.

Samples of Informer Menu Messages on hold

Picholine: Greeting and Marketing Message on hold

Four Brothers Pizza

 Click here to have messages that will increase your average order by next week!

Curbside Pickup is a trend that will last

Everything about your business has changed.  But Add-on sales have always been profit makers for restaurants, just ask McDonald’s.  This is a trend that won’t disappear when life gets back to “normal.” Why not find out about how messages on hold can increase your sales and profits?

Call us to find out about how new Informer Menu Marketing Messages can work for you: In Stamford, as well as Norwalk and Bridgeport, call us at (203) 655-3920.  Nationwide call (800) 862-8896.

          5 Year Stamford Chamber Ambassador

 

 

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Will Messages on hold help you? 8 statistics give you the answer

Will Messages on hold help your business grow? Messages on hold are a Guerilla Marketing Tool.  Like every marketing tactic their job is to help you sell more, and increase revenue.  The most effective on hold marketing examples focus on your business, your goals, and, most importantly, your customers.

Unlike more common marketing ideas, messages on hold work “behind the scenes” so many businesses aren’t even aware of them, or what their track record is.  So here’s the research.

Will messages on hold work for you?

• AT&T research found that 69% of business telephone callers are placed on “hold.” That research was confirmed by Inbound/Outbound Magazine.
• USA Today tells the sad story that, on average, we spend 15 minutes a day waiting on hold.
• Most callers won’t wait: According to AT&T 60% callers waiting in silence will hang up within 45 seconds, and 30% of them will never call back. They’re lost to the competition.
  North American Telecom statistics are even worse: they say that 90% of these callers will hang up.

But there is some hope:

• Giving your callers something interesting to listen to helps:  Playing music on hold will keep callers on the line 30 seconds longer than just silence.  Providing interesting information retains callers up to 3 minutes.
• Callers are interested in what they hear: US West found that callers remember 40% of the information that they hear, and that
• 12% of callers actually requested the products and services they heard about.
• Bottom Line: Cellular Marketing Magazine concluded that 85% of callers prefer messages on hold over silence.

#holdhappens, whether we admit it or not.
What do your telephone callers…your customers and your best prospects…hear when they’re on hold?

• Dead silence?
• An electronic “beep beep”?
• Dentist music that came as the “default” on your phone system
• Or information that they want, and that you want them to have?

You can give your callers information about your most profitable products, your newest services, and educate them about how you’re different from your competition.

Will Messages on hold help your business?  Find out what our clients have said about their Informer service by clicking here.

Questions?  Click here to reach our FAQ’s.  Or give us a call at (800) 862-8896. You can also email us for more answers.

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Messages on hold for Auto Dealerships in Connecticut book more service

Messages on hold for Auto Dealerships in Connecticut help you focus your marketing where it counts:

1. On the people who are already thinking of you, and
2. On the most profitable part of your dealership

What other part of your marketing is guaranteed to do that?

Are you interested in taking advantage of the opportunity?

Messages on hold for Auto Dealerships in Connecticut work

You already know the score, but just in case, we’ll tell you again: according to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) “the new–vehicle department accounts for about 58% of a dealership’s total sales but less than 26% of a dealerships profits.” Yet 94% of your marketing budget is devoted to attracting car buyers into your showroom.  That’s not a recipe for success.

It does create an opportunity.  Unfortunately too many dealers let much of it slip through their fingers.  How exactly can you capture more of this business when you’ve got such a small marketing budget left?  Catch them when they pick up the phone to call you.

On hold messages are the affordable way to advertise to your best prospects at just the right time.

Here’s how messages on hold work

1. Maybe you’ve sold a customer, who we’ll call “Bill” a car or truck at your Connecticut dealership.  Or maybe Bill purchased your brand of vehicle from another dealer.  Maybe he’s recently moved to Hartford from out of state, or his previous dealer disappointed him.  There’s also a chance that Bill purchased a previously owned vehicle.
2. Bill’s vehicle needs service, so he calls you.
3. Your service area is busy, so Bill is asked to wait on hold.  It’s important, so Bill will wait.  But did you know that
   1. 60% of callers placed on hold will hang up in less than 45 seconds?
   2. And 30% of your lost callers will never call back
   3. But…callers will stay on the line up to 3 minutes longer when listening to helpful information.
4. Your service phone rep picks up Bill’s call again.  In addition to asking about his “check engine light” Bill decides that it’s time for the “60,000 mile service” that he heard about while on hold.  The statistics show that 1 in 5 callers made a purchase based on information they heard on hold.

Affordable and highly targeted

Messages on hold are affordable and highly targeted: they’re guaranteed to reach your best sales prospects at “the moment of truth” when they’re ready to buy.

What do your callers hear on hold?

If your callers in Connecticut aren’t asking about helpful information (and services) that they heard on hold, it’s time to call us.  Face it: there’s no “check your marketing messages” light on your phone, so it’s up to you.  In Fairfield County call The Informer about the telephone messages that generate profitable sales: call (203) 655-3920.  In Danbury, New Haven, or Norwich, or nationwide, call us toll free at (800) 862-8896.  Or click here to email us about details.

      5 Year Stamford Chamber Ambassador

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Sales Funnel Basics: Understanding your Customers’ 4 Steps to Buying

The sales funnel is a simple way to visualize your customers’ 4 step journey, from awareness to taking the action you desire: buying from you.  The journey is shown as a funnel because fewer of your prospects remain as they move further down the funnel.

The important lesson from the funnel is that your sales prospects need different help from you at each stage to complete the journey and finally take action (make a purchase).

Do you know how to reach and appeal to prospects at each stage of your own sales funnel in today’s vastly changed journey?

Sales Funnel: the customer’s journey

Let’s take a journey with your potential customer to review

• The Four Classic Stages of the Funnel
• How to communicate with the customer at each stage, and
• What to communicate at each stage

Awareness

At the top of the funnel individuals realize they have a problem, so they start looking for solutions.  The prospect has lots of questions, and wants to be informed, so they’re just looking for information.  They might search “auto insurance” or “pet beds,” or “snoring.”  You job is to attract their attention without trying to sell to them.  Provide helpful ideas.  Use SEO focusing on the keywords they search, retargeting (display ads), blog posts, guest blog posts, #hashtags, articles, videos, social media posts, infographics, video blogs, and the help of influencers.

Interest

Here consumers get serious: they’ve begun to understand their problem and do research. They’re starting to look at all their options. Your job is to show your expertise, and build a relationship.  Your challenge is to keep your benefit message consistent and interesting.  They don’t want promotional materials.  Educate them about you can solve the problem with explainer videos, white papers, guides, targeted remarketing (email campaigns), free trials, and messages on hold when they call you.

Education can be the key:  According to research by Conductor.com, “consumers are 131% more likely to buy from a brand immediately after they consume educational content.”

Desire

Now your prospect is almost ready, but hasn’t reached “the tipping point.”  What can you do to help them?  Give them proof that you’re the best choice, with testimonials, FAQ’s, case studies, and product comparisons.

Action

It’s the moment of truth. Your efforts have closed the sale.
But the goal isn’t just one sale, its continued use and satisfaction, repeat purchase, “raving fans,” and 5-star reviews.  How do you do it?  Follow up, great customer service, success tips, new ways to use the product/service, follow-up email campaigns.  Done right, you’ll move the customer back to “Desire” for a repeat sale.

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Business After the Shutdown: 8 Ideas to work on today, so you’re ready

Business owners are the “first responders” when there’s a change in the economy, and the current health crisis caused a major one.  So now it’s time to plan for business after the shutdown.

In the past weeks 250,000 US retail stores have closed their doors.  But not every business is suffering: some companies are benefitting from their competition being sidelined.   Walmart and Amazon alone are hiring 250,000 new workers to keep up with increased sales.

Business after the Shutdown

What’s your plan to grow as we all get back to business?

Things are slow for many of us.  Smart businesses are planning for life after COVID-19, because when things get back to normal (or the “new normal”) it will come fast.  And pent up demand will benefit those who took this time to plan.

How are you operating right now?  What has happened in your business?  More importantly what’s happening for your clients?  How have they changed?  What are their new challenges?  How can you change to meet those challenges?  Where are the opportunities?  For some of us that might mean big changes.

An ancient Greek philosopher said “The only constant in life is Change.”  Today we have two choices:

1. Hope that life goes back to “the way it was,” or
2. Think, plan, and work to make change work for you, to emerge stronger on the other side.

How can you work to make sure you prosper when business opens again?

• Keep in touch with clients and prospects in every way that you can
  • Call them
  • Email them: individually, or with email blasts
  • Make recommendations: making referrals to customers about others in your network shows that you’re thinking of their future
  • Send email newsletters
  • Blog
  • Meet Virtually (Facetime, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, etc)
  • Podcast
  • Video Podcasts
  • Write Customer Testimonials
• Review your digital marketing: your business listings, reviews, SEO, etc.
• If presentations were delayed, make the better now so you’re prepared later
• If you had a weakness before, work on strengthening it
• Reassess your business: what’s been working, and what hasn’t
• What’s your competition doing? Don’t lose sight of them.
• Get help: you’ll find seasoned business advisors who would love to help you at score.org. And it’s free.
• Are there new ways you can help your customer? Ask them.  Then figure out how to deliver.

Have questions on any of these ideas?  Email me or call me at 203-655-3920.

 

 

Casey Hart is President and founder of Informer Messages on hold. Informer Messages, like networking, are a way to start the conversations that help you sound more professional and sell more.  For more information email us by clicking here.

 

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Professional Phone Greetings: 5 simple steps to better service

Professional Phone Greetings can make a difference, every time a customer calls your business.

How?
Most business phone calls are answered automatically, using your “auto attendant,” to greet your caller and efficiently route them to their destination.  That’s the time to make a great first impression, because you only get one chance.

Professional Phone Greetings can help

Recording your greeting with a professional voice over gives you an advantage: that greeting is

• Always there, and never out to lunch or sick
• Always happy to answer your call, and never annoyed or distracted
• Always provides your caller with the right information and choices

Who recorded your auto attendant greeting?

The automated attendant feature comes standard on most phones (PBX, Hosted, or VoIP) and the main greeting was probably recorded when it was installed.  You’ve called lots of businesses in Stamford, and you’ve heard them: most are recorded by the office manager, or a secretary.  Or by the phone technician.  Nobody likes to do it…because nobody seems to like the sound of their own voice!

Think about your caller

Your callers are your best customers, and hottest prospects, who are calling you for help.  Like most of us, they’re rushed and want service fast.    You’ve been in the same situation, so you understand.

So why not give your callers exactly what they want?

1. Greet them with a pleasant sounding voice, every time they call
2. Thank them for calling, and identify your business
3. Keep the greeting short.  This is not the place for promoting your products or website.
4. Give them options in order of popularity.  If most callers ask for “customer service” why not make this the first choice?  Making callers wait for the most popular choice will cause callers to press “0” to reach an operator.  And simply making “Sales” the first option won’t increase sales.  It will increase frustration.
5. When giving options list the name of the department, then the option number: “For customer service press 1”

How does your attendant greeting sound?

Call yourself.  On most systems (Avaya, Mitel, Cisco) changing your greeting is a simple task, or your phone service company can help.  But while you’re at it, why not consider a professional greeting like one of these?

The Informer has helped businesses of every size in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, all over Connecticut, and nationwide make a better first impression with a greeting recorded by our pro voice talent.  Give us a call and we’ll help you impress your callers, every time the phone rings.  In Fairfield County call (203) 655-3920.  Nationwide call (800) 862-8896 today.

         5 Year Stamford Chamber Ambassador

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Good on hold messages can be tough to find: 5 things to demand

You’d think that good on hold messages would be easy to find.  They’re pretty simple, right?  Write a quick script that gives your business name (so callers know that they’ve reached the right place), your location in New York, and a long list of the services you that you offer to Manhattan residents.  Then show them how good you are by telling everyone that you offer the best service, best quality, and have the best customer service.  Your technicians have the best training.  And, of course, you offer the best price.

You can’t lose, can you?  Everyone will listen and buy from you.  So why don’t they work like that?

Good messages on hold are harder to find than you think

That’s because on hold messages have to do more than list your products and services, and brag about your service. New Yorkers aren’t that gullible.  You can’t fool them that easily.  But most on hold services will sell you an on hold recording that fails to capture your customers’ attention, and never helps them choose you.  Dumb messages on hold are easier to write than great ones.

So what can you do?

Before you invest in advertising on hold, ask questions: you don’t want to waste your money, and lose a great opportunity to help more customers.  Here are 5 things to demand when you’re shopping for your next new marketing tool:

1. Inspiration: Effective messages give your callers information that they want, and that you want them to have  Who comes up with the ideas?  Does the supplier?  Or do you have to do the hard work.  Unless you know what you want to say, and what your callers want to hear about, it doesn’t matter what’s in the script.  It will fail.
2. Who writes the script: same argument.  The most best messages on hold are brief because callers attention spans are brief.  But short messages are harder to write well.
3. How long is the script?  Some suppliers “nickel and dime” you with word counts.  We work with you to provide the optimal number of messages for the optimal results.
4. Does my service include Greetings?  Greetings with the same professional voice help you sound more professional
5. Long Term Contracts: there’s a foreign company selling message on hold service that locks you into an unbreakable contract for 3 years or more.  Is that the only way they can hold on to their customers? Do you really want to be stuck with them if you’re not happy?  Ask!

There are lots more important questions, but these are a good start.

Shopping to find good messages on hold?

As Sy Sims, a legendary New York retailer said: An Educated Consumer is our Best Customer.  Let’s talk about your choices and what you should look for to find the telephone hold messages that you want.

Click here for information, or call us, in New York City at 212-355-6980.  Outside NY call us Toll Free at 800-862-8896.  Call today.

                         

 

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Urgent Care Marketing Tool that reaches your best patients

There’s an Urgent Care Marketing tool that helps build your Connecticut Medical practice faster and more effectively, that you probably haven’t every taken advantage of.  Not only will it help you to book initial consultations, it helps you increase patient loyalty with repeat visits in the future.  Isn’t that the best way to ensure patient health…and the success of your Urgent Care Clinic?

Urgent Care Marketing Tool that hits the target

Your Connecticut medical clinic provides the immediate care that attracts patients when they need you most.  But experience shows that too few of your patients rely on your center for their daily healthcare needs.  That’s as important in Hartford as it is in New Haven.  To succeed, you’ve got to provide both walk-in care, and then educate patients about the best reasons to come back.  You can do that with targeted marketing.

Time and convenience are primary reasons for visiting your providers.  Many Urgent Care Centers offer the convenience of calling ahead for an appointment, especially these days.  When they do, many callers are placed on hold.

Your can transform that “hold” time into a marketing opportunity, by providing helpful information while your callers wait.  While your most frequent visits may be

• Cuts
• Fractures and sprains
• Burns
• Falls
• Auto accidents

educating your patients about the “other” ways that you can help them can increase consultations for less “urgent” reasons to visit, such as

1. Pain from urinary tract infections
2. Allergies
3. Asthma
4. Pink Eye
5. Mono
6. Bronchitis
7. Ear Infections
8. and more.

Not only does listening to helpful information make the time spent waiting seem shorter (and cut way down on callers hanging up) you’ll book more consults for more conditions

Want to give patients more reasons to return?

Call now for a free Urgent Care Marketing Consultation and see how easy it is to educate your patients about more of the ways you can help them.  In Stamford and throughout Fairfield County call (203) 655-3920.  Nationwide call us toll free at (800) 862-8896.  Or click here to email us for information.

 

 

 

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Messages on hold for Pizzerias In Stamford Increase Loyalty, Profits

Messages on hold for Pizzerias in Stamford can help you build customer loyalty, improve your social media, and increase your average take-out order.  Especially during the Coronavirus “Shelter in Place” directives.  Here’s how they work.

These days your “walk in” clientele is gone.  We’re limited to “curbside pickup” and delivery.  Both are pre-order, and that means that your phone keeps on ringing.  For many successful pizzerias that have either a large dedicated customer population or regularly attract new customers online, the phone keeps on ringing every evening.  (If yours isn’t ringing, click here). What happens then?  According to AT&T research, about 69% of your telephone calls are asked to wait on “hold.”

Messages on Hold for Pizzerias in Stamford

What do your callers hear on hold?  Silence?  The “default” music that came with your phones?  That’s like watching a movie on TV without a pizza.  No one will put up with it. (And the stats confirm it: up to 60% will hang up, and 30% will never call back). So that’s where messages on hold come in: you’ll keep them interested, and “hold on” to them, until you can take their order.

What will they listen to?  Why not “spice it up” with ideas like:

• your pizzeria’s history and what makes you special
• speaking of specials, what about featuring profitable special pizzas?
• pizza lovers get just as thirsty as the rest of us: remind them about drinks
• how about appetizers like mozzarella sticks or garlic knots?
• something a little different, like chicken parm or pasta?
• dessert: something sweet is always a good idea after a few slices
• build your Social Media “Likes” and “Followers” and give callers something to distract them with simple suggestions (or interesting incentives).
• remind them about your Loyalty Program
• and you can even add a special “topping” of pizza trivia

Here’s a sample:

When your callers have to wait on hold, they don’t have to be bored.  And you don’t have to settle for the same “average order” you’ve always gotten.  According to Pizza Marketplace, for a pizzeria in Connecticut, you can easily generate $7,000-$37,000 in extra revenue just by upselling

Where can you get marketing messages on hold?

Everybody can be their own judge of the best pizza.  But there’s only one way to judge on hold messages: results. Your script should be custom tailored to your pizza shop.  Successful on hold script examples are written with your customer in mind, recorded by professional voice over actors, and play on your phone system (PBX, Hosted, VoIP, or other phones).  Your message on hold system should be updated to give you an on hold recording (and phone greeting) that makes you sound like the best pizzeria in Stamford.  Informer Messages on hold get results for our clients nationwide, at businesses like your pizzeria.

Find out how they’ll work for you.

Interested in how you can build more loyal customers, and increase revenue by thousands?  In Stamford call (203) 655-3920 to get “a bigger slice of the pie.”  Nationwide call The Informer (800) 862-8896.  But call soon…the Friday night rush is coming!

 5 Year Stamford Chamber Ambassador

Informer Messages already work in Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Fairfield, Bridgeport, New Haven, Danbury, Hartford, and throughout Connecticut.  Put them to work for you!

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Whats a Guerrilla Marketing Tool?

Whats a Guerrilla Marketing tool?  Smart businesses have discovered that there’s an alternative to high priced advertising (today’s most popular advertising includes Print, Television, and Pay Per Click) that can still propel your business to success.  These alternative promotional tools minimize the cost of your campaign without sacrificing effectiveness and profitability.  Are you still stuck paying too much to promote your products?

Whats a Guerrilla Marketing Tool?

It’s defined as:

“an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional
interactions in order to promote a product or service”

They’re not “Madison Avenue” techniques.  But they’re affordable and effective. So why aren’t you using more of them?

From the beginning of the “Age of Advertising” big companies like Proctor and Gamble and Lever Brothers dominated the airwaves with advertisements created by the “Mad Men” of the day, using a technique called “The C&R Formula.” “C” was for creativity (cute ads with dogs and babies or movie stars) and “R” was for repeat (we’ve all been exposed to the same classic ads so many times that we can’t forget them…like “Don’t Squeeze the Charmin,” and “Two all beef patties…”)

The idea was that if they repeated it enough, you’d remember it.  And we did.  But that only achieved “name recognition,” not necessarily sales.   Small and medium sized businesses can’t afford just to get recognized.  They need sales.  So marketer Jay Conrad Levinson recognized the need for small budget advertising that increased sales, and put them together in his book “Guerrilla Marketing.”

Examples

What were Levinson’s advertising techniques?  They were simple ideas that anyone could afford: personal letters, Telemarketing, Circulars and Brochures, Signs, Radio, and more.  Some of these are a little outdated, but other still work just as well as they always have.

Here’s another example: messages on hold

One of the tools that Levinson mentioned (three times!) in his book is “Messages on hold.”  These telephone advertisements reach your best prospects: your existing customers and the people who call to learn more about your products and services every time they’re placed on “hold.”  And #holdhappens: according to AT&T, 69% of business telephone calls are placed on hold.  These callers usually listen to dead silence or music on hold.  Or if they’re annoyed enough, the just hang up.

Informer Messages on hold put wasted hold time to use, telling callers about your business and how you can help them.  They give callers information about your most profitable products and services, how you can solve their problems, and how you’re different from your competition.  They’re custom written and recorded to help you reach more of your sales and marketing goals.

If you’re looking for low budget advertising techniques that will help your business grow, look for Levinson’s book.  His ideas, like using messages on hold to advertise to your best prospects, are timeless.

What do your callers hear on hold?

Why not try a guerrilla tactic, and put this affordable and effective advertising tool to use? The marketers at The Informer will do everything for you.  Find out more by calling 800-862-8896 or by clicking here.

 

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Messages on hold for Walk In Clinics help you book more consults

Messages on hold for Walk In Clinics help you increase first time visits, as well as patient loyalty, which translates into more consults every month.

Most patients only consider visiting you for the convenience you offer.  Messages on hold give you an effective way to inform patients about more the services you offer and how your practice is more than just convenient.

Messages on hold for Walk In Clinics build patient loyalty

Wouldn’t you like patients to understand that you’re the healthcare option that fits their entire family’s lifestyle?  The first step is educating them about additional services you offer.

How often do patients utilize your Walk-In Clinic?

In a year-long study featured in The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine® examined over 5 million visits to Urgent Care Facilities by 3.4 million patients.  That’s just 1.47 visits per patient.  The study identified “loyal” patients as utilizing services 2.7 times per year…almost 100% percent more.

So what’s the difference?

How do you help your patients more frequently?
The JUCM study shows that Loyal patients visit for less urgent primary care treatable complaints such as Bronchitis, Cough, Dizziness, Flu, Headaches, and Low Back Pain.

Messages on hold give your patients this helpful information, every time they have to wait on hold.  Most patients don’t think of your Walk In Clinic for these ailments because they don’t realize you offer them.  That’s easy to change.

Put hold time to use

Right now, your telephone callers probably wait on hold in dead silence, or listening to your telephone system’s “default” music.  Why not replace it with interesting information that can help your patients find the healthcare alternative that they’ve been looking for: becoming a loyal patient at your clinic.

For a free consult about how Informer Messages on hold can work for you, click for information, or for immediate help call us at (800) 862-8896 today.

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Patient Loyalty: the proven 3 step process you must follow to build it

Today, your Connecticut Urgent Care is on the front lines protecting both your patients and the public health.  When the current health emergency has abated, building Patient Loyalty will be the key to your success, and make sure that you are always there for all your patients needs.  Here are the 3 steps you need to follow to build that loyalty.

Patient Loyalty: 3 Steps to take

1. The first step is raising awareness of your Urgent Care. There are lots of advertising and marketing tools that promise to do this, from Advertising with Pay Per Click to Billboards, Signage to Direct Mail, Grassroots marketing, and a high ranking website.  Google claims that 73% of patients use their mobile phone to find a healthcare provider, which makes them notoriously non-loyal, simply searching for a nearby provider each time they need help.  So SEO that gets you listed at the top of page one is crucial, and the cost to attract each patient is high, as is competition, so that you can’t simply rely on luck for a steady stream of patients.  So what can you do?
2. Next you’ve got to give patients a reason to be loyal.  That raises their interest
   • Convenience
   • Meet them with a friendly greeting
   • Provide the prompt service that they’ve been promised
   • Quality Care: listen to their needs, take the time to understand their problem completely
     and then provide the personal service that they’ll appreciate.  That’s the second step.  That gets you to the third step: giving them reasons to return
3. The third step: Your patients visited your facility because they had a non-life-threatening injury or health problem.  Education about more of your services gives them more reasons to return: allergies, cuts that require stitches, bruises and potential broken bones, headaches, back pain, and more.  Do your patients know that your providers have the expertise to help with these problems?
   How will you tell them?  Your Website?  Email blasts?  The most effective marketing reaches your patient when they’re focused on their health, and not distracted.  Just like PPC, messages on hold deliver your message and educate your patient when they’re focused on you.  Urgent care telephone callers are often asked to wait “on hold” for a few moments. Why not make that time more interesting, and make the wait seem shorter, telling them about their most convenient source for healthcare: your center.

Building Loyal Patients

Your Urgent Care’s success, it’s fiscal health, depends on patients returning again in the future.  You can take an important step toward achieving this when they hear more about more of your specialties, with “medical marketing messages” that make every phone call more productive.

Find out about Informer Messages on hold: click here to see how the process works, or ask about a free 15-minute consultation. We’ll ask you key questions and give you a plan just for your Connecticut Urgent Care, and there’s no obligation.  We’ll also show you why patient retention is so important.

Call us for answers

Call us today: in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk or Bridgeport dial 203-655-3920.  In Hartford, New Haven, Danbury or nationwide call us at 800-862-8896 today.  Or click here to email us.

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Business Phone Systems in Stamford: what are you really looking for?

Business phone systems in Stamford seem to add features every day, but the bottom line is this: do they help you provide better service and help more customers?  Isn’t that what you’re really looking for?

One phone vendor in Connecticut estimated that you have over 300 choices for telephones (and its growing).  So what can you do to accomplish more of your goals every time the phone rings?

Business Phone Systems in Stamford are simple: service is what’s complicated.

Your phone installer (if you have a traditional phone system or PBX) or phone service provider (in the case of a hosted PBX or VoIP phone system) will take care of the technical details getting you set up and running.  But that’s where the fun begins.

When the customer calls you, what happens?  That’s the first impression you make?  That’s important, because you only get one chance.

Some companies are frequently busy, and can’t answer all their calls personally.  For them, most phone systems offer an automated attendant that will answer the phone.  Your caller is greeted by a recorded auto attendant greeting.  The better this recording sounds, the better the impression you make.  Professional phone greetings can be created by a help you sound more…professional.

Does your company use an auto attendant?

If it does, your callers are usually placed in a “queue,” to wait until “the next available representative is available.”  What will your callers listen to while waiting? Silence? The “default” music on hold?  That “elevator music” is never anyone’s favorite!  But you do have the option to replace it with something more interesting: marketing messages on hold: when they’re good, they’re information that your callers want and that you want them to have.

When your caller reaches your representative, what kind of impression would you like to make?  Professional?  Relaxed?  Friendly?  Or distracted?  Bored?  Uninterested?  The choice is yours.  There are numerous helpful articles (like this one) that offer advice on telephone etiquette.

What are your goals when customers call?

Who is your typical caller? What would you like to help them with?  General information?  Help them place an order?  Or would you like to increase your order size with ideas that “upsell” and “add on sales”?  With the right training, your reps can help you accomplish these goals.  Or messages on hold can make it easier to accomplish.

Make yours better

There are lots of choices in office phone systems.  The crucial decision is how you put them to use, for your business and your customer.

Interesting finding out more?  Call for a free independent telecom consult (we don’t sell phone systems!) today.  In Stamford and throughout Fairfield County, Connecticut, call (203) 655-3920 or click here to email us.  In Hartford or nationwide call (800) 862-8896.

5 Year Stamford Chamber Ambassador

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How It Works

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Messages on hold for Medical Practices in Stamford attract more consults

Messages on hold for Medical Practices in Stamford give your office give you two distinct opportunities.  Properly written, this medical practice marketing tool will

• help you attract more patients
• help existing patients in more ways

in ways that medical practitioners just can’t.

Your medical office is busy.  There are times when the telephone rings and you just can’t help them all at the same time.  So some callers are asked to “please hold.”  In fact, AT&T research shows that at your office 69% of your calls may be placed “onhold.”

Messages on hold for medical practices in Stamford can help

Your patients call you when they need you most.  When they do, waiting on hold can be boring, or frustrating.  First time callers can just hang up.  When they do, 30% of those hangups won’t call again.  But there’s a way to help fix the problem.

Messages on hold for medical practices in Stamford are written specifically for your practice, for your medical specialties.  They transform wasted hold time into an informative opportunity…a medical advertising opportunity…to educate your callers.  Interesting messages start to help your patient, even if your staff is busy.

What would you like your callers to know about you?  An effective phone message can appeal to both current and future patients.  They’re most effective when your on hold scripts are written by a professional who takes the time to get to know about you, your practice, and how you help your patients best.  Custom messages can

• Educate your loyal patients about the range of your specialties, and how you can help them achieve optimal health in ways they hadn’t thought of
• Tell prospective patients about your education and background, building awareness of your skills, and building confidence that you can help them.

Click here to see how the process works.

Growing your practice with loyal patients

Throughout Connecticut, the current trends in medicine is towards specialization, and visiting specialists for ailments that you already have expertise in.  But patients aren’t aware that you can help them, and mistakenly assume that they need a specialist.

On hold recordings can be a part of an effective plan give your patients information that they want, and that you want them to have.

Book more consults

You’ll attract more new patients, and book more consults, when you transform your business phone system (whether you have a traditional PBX or new VoIP system) with on hold marketing tailored to your practice.

Find out more about how The Informer can create professional phone greetings, and a medical telephone message that will help you sound more professional and help more patients.  You can simply click here for more information, or call us for a free 15-minute consultation:  In Stamford and throughout Connecticut, call us at (203) 655-3920.  Nationwide call (800) 862-8896.

Book more consults.  Help more patients.  Call us today.

5 Year Chamber Ambassador

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