On-Hold Marketing Moves Into Rogers

With more than 500 clients in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, Mike Rooney brings an established business, Creative On-Hold Marketing, with him from Fort Wayne, Ind., to Rogers.
Rooney is responsible for many of the sometimes annoying, sometimes helpful messages people hear while they’re on hold.
People who call companies tend to be current customers or potential customers. Promotions, specials, new products or services can be relayed while those interested folks are on hold, instead of the garden-variety store hours and an address.
“That’s where the creative part comes in,” Rooney said. “We can jazz it up and put some sizzle with it, and it makes your advertising dollar go longer because it reaches the right clientele.”
Rooney’s company grosses about $200,000 in revenue annually. Rooney contracts out two scriptwriters and a dozen or so voice talents (mostly radio disc jockeys) from all over the country who transfer files via the Internet. Voices, male and female, are mixed with background music in his studio in Ft. Wayne to custom tailor a four- to six-minute message.
“We can tone the message to whatever the owner wants it to be,” Rooney said. “Whether it’s a high-pressure sale like a used car lot or a just an informative message like for a bank or a financial institution, something where you don’t want a lot of hype and you want to make it sound secure and not necessarily a used-car like pitch, we can do that, too.”
It’s all uploaded to a phone system, and about 80 percent of Rooney’s customers have everything uploaded and controlled by remote box. In the old days, Rooney said tape recorders were used for a company’s on-hold messaging. While tapes wear out, Rooney’s productions keep the same quality forever.
Creative On-Hold Marketing has about 25 clients in Arkansas and produces the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce’s on-hold messaging system. Scripts can be updated each month.