October 2011

Launch of punch

Minor Name Change

Kuwaiti women were just granted the right to vote, the first human face transplant was performed in France and George W. Bush was inaugurated for his second term as President. The year was 2005 when Image Marketing purchased 99 On-Hold thus creating Image Marketing/99 On-Hold. Merging the two companies created many synergies, but one heck of a mouthful for a name. Throughout the past couple of years we have found that 99 On-Hold customers have grown comfortable and familiar with the Image Marketing name so after six years, we feel the merge is complete and we can now comfortably ease back into the simple name of Image Marketing. Our receptionist thanks us. : )

Meet a Member

With the launch of punch, many more Image Marketing customers will be working directly with Tyler Bachewich, our Resident Marketing Mind and Creative Thinker (not his official title). Tyler, a native of Brandon, Manitoba, will work as an account manager and be responsible for client updates on the social media sites as well as search engine marketing and creation of Google optimized mini-sites. That's a lot of words so if any of this is confusing or intriguing to you, don't hesitate to ask him for the details. You can reach him via email at tyler@imi99.com.

Ask the Expert

Q: Our business has a jingle that we use in other forms of advertising. Can this be used in our on-hold messages too?
A: ABSOLUTELY! Brand consistency is an important part of marketing. When you purchase new on-hold messages simply send the jingle and it can be added in behind your message.

Q: Our radio hooks up to our telephone system. Will this work for on-hold too?
A: If you are going to put radio on-hold, you need to be aware of licensing issues. It can be done legally, but not just by connecting your radio. According to United States Copyright Laws, playing the radio on-hold is a "re-broadcast" and therefore, subject to music licensing fees owed to ASCAP, BMI, and other music ownership groups. Copyright infringement also includes playing music CDs. There are drawbacks to playing music though. First, you are not taking advantage of the marketing opportunity and secondly, you have no control over the content. We've heard horror stories of businesses losing sales because a competitor's "sale" advertisement played while on-hold.

Q: Are callers really placed on-hold as frequently as I've heard?
A: YES! More than 70% of business calls are placed on-hold for an average of 45-60 seconds. Many of them hang up and don't bother calling back. It's been proven that a company's caller abandonment rate decreases by half when messages are played to callers on hold.

Did You Know?

"The average business executive spends 17 minutes a day on hold. That is 68 hours a year." - USA Today

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"The average person spends 60 hours per year on hold. 55 seconds is the national average hold time for companies with more than two telephone lines." - CNN Survey

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"One in five respondents made a purchase or decision based on information they heard while on-hold." - Telemarketing Magazine Survey

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"Callers with silence on-hold will abandon their calls in less than one minute; 90% hang up within 40 seconds." - North American Telecommunications Association

Customer of the Month

Congratulations to our customer of the month, Dr. Lee Shettle of Largo, Florida. Thank you for your business! Find Dr. Shettle online at www.leeshettleeye.com.