The Finish is Golden
The Golden State Warriors are NBA Champions once again. They proved the pundits right. But, it was far from a foregone conclusion at the start of the final game of the series. It was close. Dangerously close, up until the end of the fourth quarter.
In the 2016 version of the NBA Finals, the Warriors looked unstoppable. No other NBA franchise ever won more regular season games. Golden State was the easy favorite throughout the playoffs and found themselves up 3 – 1 in the championship series against Cleveland. No team in NBA history had ever lost the finals with such a commanding lead. But that is exactly what happened. The Cavaliers came back and took it all, winning the title in seven games.
The 2016 Warriors were a great team. But, they lost the series simply because they couldn’t finish.
Such a monumental collapse could have a lasting effect on an organization, possibly even sending this Top-Gun into a flat-spin that is unrecoverable. But that was not the case. They did what all great organizations do when things aren’t working. They evaluated what happened, formulated a plan, and made the appropriate changes.
Golden State got to work immediately. Within two weeks of losing game 7 to the Cavaliers, the Warriors started making changes. They restructured their already talented line-up to bring in the premier free agent on the market – Kevin Durant. Golden State changed their roster, the roles of their players, and the focus of the organization moving forward was clear: Finish. Strong. It took the Warriors a mere 15 days to institute the change that would bring them the championship one year later.
How long would it take you to make a change after learning that the quality of your on-hold program is costing you business?
Unfortunately, many businesses fail to follow in the footsteps of the Warriors and make a course-correction. For some reason they choose not to institute the changes necessary to facilitate a different outcome. They continue their course, hoping for a different result – the textbook definition of insanity.
It is puzzling that businesses are unwilling to change, even when faced with the reality that their on hold program is generating a negative response from their callers. Tones that blare into the ear of your caller every 8 seconds are frustrating. So is the default music from your VoIP phone system provider that starts from the beginning every time. Listen to this:
This type of ‘business as usual’ approach to on hold programming is as tired and worn-out as the Cavaliers were in the closing minutes of Game 5.
Essentially, your on-hold advertising is the final moments of a championship game; and what you do determines whether or not you win by securing a satisfied customer, or lose to the competition once again.
On-Hold Concepts from WMG is a professional and creative approach to on-hold advertising designed specifically for a single purpose: To help you finish strong with each person who calls you. We believe everything we do will help your business grow by harnessing the power of a captive audience. If you need a change, the answer is simple. Put US on hold.
The Warriors have learned how to finish.
Now it’s your turn.
Tom McTee, Super-Genius