Schulhoff Veterinary Service 03-2012

 What they do:

 Schulhoff Animal Hospital serves an affluent community of pet lovers in Connecticut from remodeled mansion that was used (briefly) as General Sherman’s headquarters in the Civil War.  It’s a family-run business, that really took the time to communicate the feel of their pet hospital; And so, our writing on this project achieved the best type of on-hold messaging content: stories!

 Schulhoff Veterinary Service serves an affluent community in Conn UNUSUAL CASE, BOA CONSTRICTOR, PT.1

DOCTOR BENYEI TELLS AN AMUSING STORY ABOUT WHEN HE WAS FIRST STARTING OUT AS A YOUNG VET, WILLING TO TACKLE ANYTHING THAT CAME ALONG.  ONE SATURDAY MORNING THE EXAM ROOM WAS FULL OF LITTLE SICK POODLES AND CATS.  A FEW MINUTES LATER DOCTOR BENYEI LOOKED UP AND THE ROOM WAS EMPTY, EXCEPT FOR A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD BOY SITTING THERE WITH A PAPER SHOPPING BAG.  THE REST OF THE STORY, IN TEN SECONDS…

 UNUSUAL CASE, BOA CONSTRICTOR, PT. 2

AS DOCTOR BENYEI WAS STARING WITH CURIOSITY AT THE SHOPPING BAG, OUT POKED A HEAD AND PEERED AROUND LIKE A PERISCOPE ON A SUBMARINE.  IT WAS A SIX-FOOT BOA CONSTRICTOR WITH AN UPSET STOMACH!  WELL, OF COURSE DOCTOR B. TOOK CARE OF THAT POOR SNAKE!  WHATEVER’S AILING YOUR PET, BRING IT IN AND WE’LL MAKE IT ALL BETTER!  TELL US ABOUT IT, WHEN WE RETURN TO THE LINE.

  Marketing Challenge:

Every veterinary clinic wants their customers to do two things 1) come back for regular checkups, and 2) Use them for the scope of services that they provide.  Schulhoff Veterinary Hospital has a dog and cat boarding service which is the best in the area.  Cats can freely roam around on furniture in a dedicated room, and watch the action outside through an antique picture window as the sun streams through. Sounds like the perfect cat holiday for me! 

 Equipment:

Veterinary service has a strong seasonal aspect: Summer for vaccines and outdoor issues, Holiday for “keep your pets away from…”, and Winter for cold-weather issues.  So, Schulhoff needed to update their production seasonally.  Hold Time installed a player that automatically updates their productions over the internet within two hours of it being completed in our studio.  Best of all, Schulhoff’s doesn’t have to do anything but approve the production… Hold Time handles the rest!

 Schulhoff was referred to us through our website, www.holdtimestudios.com, but not to the home page, they told me.  Curiously, the keywords “music on hold Avaya” takes the search engines to the Installation Page ( see hyper link here ), which lists instructions for many types of phone systems.  

All in one week.

It's amazing to me how many industries use on-hold messaging... I'm constantly walking into NW businesses and saying, "Who knew this was here?"  Just last week, I was working with:

#1: St. Vincent De Paul: Originally a Roman Catholic institution, this charitable organization now helps 350,000 people every year in the Portland area - and 60% of their assistance is through food.  From Milwaukie, OR their warehouse transports 1.3 million pounds a year to the hungry.

#2: Game Time: Soon to open in Tigard, OR, these guys have taken an old restaurant and upgraded it with bowling lanes, arcades, and over 35 flat screen TV's.  Ever wonder what the back end of a bowling alley looked like?

#3: Stopping in at the Rose Garden for telecom network event sponsored by Allworx, followed by the Portland Winterhawks.  Those are some noisy fans.

#4:

Logmax: From Vancouver, WA. this Swedish company distributes logging equipment - specifically, an all-in-one 7000 pound head that cut down, delimb, and stack a tree in 30 seconds.  You can see the video here, it's pretty incredible.

#5:E and A Auto Repair gets the Inspirational Award for the week: Nazier came from Sudan by way of Saudi Arabia, where he worked on the Prince's Rolls Royces.  After work, he rebuilds a Shelby GT 500 "Elanor".  He figured out a way start his own shop, and now has a very loyal customer base in NE Portland.  

All this in one week!  Amazing.  I love my job.

Patrick 503-740-0121

At least once a month, someone calls me asking about the music on hold BEEP that callers get on the RCA Executive Series 25403, and 254XX systems.  

Sorry, Frank. The annoying BEEP cannot be turned off.  You've got three options:

1. Buy another small system like this one from AT&T.  We have several customers who ditched the RCA, and are very happy with this one

2. Get a professional grade phone system.  

3. Equipped with a music on hold analog adapter from Hold Time Studios, we can effectively mask the BEEP... but we can't make it go away altogether.

Every phone system has a different configuration, and Patrick knows what to do.  Email him, or talk to him right now at 800-521-5570.

Christmas already?  At Hold Time Music, we started two weeks ago writing, getting approval, and (soon) producing Holiday productions for our clients.   There's a lot to talk about, especially for those companies that expect an end-of-year bump in revenue, and Hold Time Music is making their customers that call in have ever opportunity to consider EVERYTHING that they do: 

Plumbing services: A slow drain is an early warning system for your plumbing - get it fixed before the guests arrive.

Dental: Look your best with a custom whitening program.

Country Clubs: Holiday parties coming up... reserve your time in our boardroom.

Heating and Refrigeration: That nice HVAC system you bought should have a service checkup by the end of the year - because the warranty requires it.

Alarm and Security: No need to leave your house abandoned while your traveling this season.  Get it protected!

Printing: It's not too late to get your Christmas cards done!

Eyecare and Optometry: Gift certificates for our high-quality sports and sun glasses.

Veterinary: Give your pet the gift of a good dental cleaning.  If you hadn't brushed your teeth in a year, how would you feel?

Retail: Have you thought of...?  and special promotions for the Holiday season.

Hold Time has options for small phone systems too.  You don' t have to have a commercial grade phone system like Avaya or NEC to get great music on hold!

What’s your Bucket Value?

 “I know I approved the on-hold script, but can you re-record this production change for me?”  I get this question every day at Hold Time, and the answer is A) $50; or B) No problem.  It depends on the “bucket value” of the company asking.   Here’s what flashes through my mind:

 How much is that customer worth over time?

 “It’s easier to keep a customer than find a new one” is true depending on the industry.   Customers move between cell phone providers all the time to get the best deal and to try to avoid fees… Don’t like AT&T today for gouging you with fees? Just wait until tomorrow when their prices are lower, or they get a cooler phone.

 So when I call Tmobile to question an additional fee, their answer depends my bucket value*… Pause, then “Thank you Mr. Bolan for being with Tmobile since 1999”, then “What fee?”  I have a high bucket value with Tmobile.

 The value of an on-hold customer

 In on-hold messaging, the bucket value is typically high.  Hold Time Music was my MBA business plan at Marylhurst University, and I learned that the average on-hold customer will stay around for more than 10 years if you treat them well; And so treat them well I do! 

 I know we all have customers that make a habit of abusing the system, and experience has taught me that they are more likely to leave my service.  If you’re in sales, you get a sense for these things even from the first meeting.  Some companies take advantage of your eagerness to please as a vendor, then dump you when they’ve drained everything they can get out of you for free.  They lose, because they a) have to hassle with finding new vendors all the time; and b) lose the investment of loyalty (ie. a high bucket value). 

 What’s your bucket value?

 Patrick

* Some industries have bucketing down to a science.  Telecom knows exactly how the average lifetime revenue of their customers, and in the cellular industry, where 285 million Americans change their cell phones on average every 21.7 months (graph)*, it’s not unusual to find these “come over to my side” companies spending 10% of their revenue on marketing, whereas it’s just 5% for software companies.   It’s easier to ditch a cell phone plan after two years than word processing program, for example. 

As a general rule, higher income translates into greater mobility between competitors, so Americans change their cell phone often, but Indians – with just $3500/yr in purchasing power per person – change their cell phones every 93 months.