ProDougtions

Judging from the number of people who are sick these days it's that time of year again. The flu's, colds and sniffles are going around. Getting a little help around the office can be a challenge sometimes. I have a solution. Your on hold message . That's right, an on hold message never gets sick. For that matter, it never takes a break, never goes on vacation and you never have to pay overtime. The pluses don't stop there. Your on hold message only says what you want it to say and how you want to say it. There's never an "attitude." It's an up sell expert too. You have a slow moving item going on clearance, your on hold message never forgets to remind the caller about it. How about your new hours? The on hold message can mention that too. And you feel a little embarrassed telling everybody about that award the Chamber of Commerce gave you? Let your on hold message do it. If you can imagine it, your on hold message can say it. Now all you h...

I've been in radio for years. It's where I learned the skills to write, voice and produce on hold messages. You often hear people saying what a cool job it is. "Sitting around playing music, answering the phone, that's great" is s omething you hear a lot. Just for fun sometimes when someone says that I'll just start walking towards the door and tell the person, "When that song is done just start the next one for me..." Have you ever seen someone turn white in an instant? It happens under this scenario in a heartbeat. The "apprentice dj"starts to stammer and stumble and say things that are unintelligible for the most part. All of a sudden it's not so much fun I guess. The best story was one time a buddy of mine was on the air and the janitor came in to do his rounds and he had a guest or trainee with him. My friend overhears the guy say "See, he just listens to music and reads the paper". The point of all this is whe...

I guess this means there really is a month for everything. March is "National On Hold Month." What does this mean? Well, officially it's a month to recognize everyone who has been placed “on hold” after calling a place of business, and to honor those businesses who make this hold time more enjoyable by supplying informative messages and music for their waiting callers. One thing i would like to clarify, an on hold message and a phone tree are 2 different things. Sometimes I've heard them interchanged in conversation. What's the difference? An "on hold message" is a way for the business to let you know you are still on hold and have not been disconnected. At the same time many businesses use this time to tell you a little bit about their business, maybe some things you didn't know but would like to know. Where as a "phone tree" is that device where you get a myriad of options (sometimes they don't fit your situation) to help the...