Best Finish Ever

March madness is over.  The Final Four champion has been crowned.  They will be talking about this performance forever.  No, I’m not talking about the Villanova snooze-fest victory over the obviously outmatched Michigan Wolverines.  I’m talking about Notre Dame.  Women’s Final Four Champion for 2018.

I’m talking about Arike Ogunbowale.

Standing between Notre Dame and the championship game was the powerhouse program of Women’s College Basketball: The University of Connecticut.  UConn has never lost a championship game.  But, this was a semi-final which meant there was hope. And for the Irish, hope is spelled O-g-u-n-b-o-w-a-l-e.

With the score tied 89-89 in overtime, Ogunbowale pulled up, and shot a jumper from just inside the 3-point arc and hit nothing but net as time expired. Notre Dame advanced to the Championship Game against Mississippi State.

Down by one in the Championship Game with seconds remaining, Arike Ogunbowale delivered in the clutch once again.  This time it was an off-balance, 3-point attempt that arched high over defender Victoria Vivians’ outstretched hand that nestled perfectly into the bottom of the net.  Irish win 61-58!

Stories like these become legendary because the push to finish is strong, bringing a long journey to a climactic conclusion.  Sports aren’t the only places where finishing strong is important.  It matters in business as well. 

That’s why we focus so much on the last step of the advertising cycle, your on hold program.  We know how important it is to finish strong.  Imagine the narrative of the championship game if, on the final play of the game, Ogunbowale didn’t take the shot and just dribbled the ball until time expired.  The audience would be left scratching their heads wondering what happened.

Some businesses treat their callers the same way.  They invest heavily in preparation for the beginning of the journey, advertising across multiple media outlets to attract potential customers. But the emphasis is not the same when it comes to the final moments of this game: when a prospect takes the time to call you and is placed on hold. 

This is the moment when you put the ball in the hands of the teammate with a track record of delivering in the clutch over and over again.  The pivotal moment where you craft a message with creativity and polish designed to reinforce your message with every call.  Time is about to expire and you place your trust in default music provided by the phone system.  Getting the potential client to this point and thinking, ‘This is good enough’ simply isn’t. Your callers are left scratching their heads wondering what happened, too.   Ask Michigan fans. They’ll tell you.  Just getting to this point isn’t enough.  They would have preferred a strong finish.

Arike Ogunbowale knows how to finish.  So does On-Hold Concepts.  Everything we do is designed to help your business grow by harnessing the power of a captive audience.   Put US on hold and your callers will say the same thing about your business that college basketball fans are saying about the 2018 Women’s Final Four.

Best finish ever.

Tom McTee, Super-Genius