Do You Hear What I Hear?

     This is the first of four Marketing Matters for the season of Advent.  Their intent is to prepare your school for the next school year, because in light of the economic realities of today, we're all going to need as much help as we can get.  Furthermore, in light of the economic realities of today, they're not going to cost you a lot in terms of treasure, but may in terms of time and talent.

     I recently called a school and was placed on hold while being transferred to the individual I was calling.  To my pleasant surprise, I heard music on hold.  Many Christian schools I call have praise music playing.  However, this school (a Catholic school) had a radio station playing.  After the song finished, the disc jockey back announced the song, said what artists were coming up, and launched into their commercial stack.

     So what did I hear?  A political ad? No.  An advertisement for a car with big model year end savings? No.  Something worse.  The ad began, "Men, are you worried that you're not fulfilling your partner's.."

     Luckily, I was connected to the person I was calling at that moment and didn't have to listen to the complete ad for Viagra, Cialis or other erectile dysfunction corrective prescription (Aside: isn't it sad that the initials ED used to mean "Education?").

     I'm glad I wasn't a parent calling the school - just what I want to hear about while I'm waiting to find out when the next open house is!

     If your school has music on hold, then don't play a radio station (by the way, it's illegal if you don't have the proper licenses from music publishers ASCAP and BMI).  With today's digital technology, have a tech-savvy parent (or maybe even some of the tech-savvy teens at the local Catholic high school - it would be a great service project for them) create some on hold messages for your school telling about it's excellent environment for formation, Christian values, personalized instruction, exemplary test schools, competitive sports, and, most importantly, your school's most remarkable quality!  Maybe even use the voices of some of your students!  Voices don't have to be identified and don't hold the same identifying characteristics (like photos and names) that usually accompany Web site posting or video usage.  Produce the messages with some production music background (available from a local radio station or video production company) on a CD or an inexpensive iPod, and connect it to your music on hold input plug.  If you want more details, drop me an email at schooladvancement@gmail.com.

     What would you rather hear if you were calling your school - messages about your school's achievements and satisfied parents, or - well - you can use your imagination.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2008 (Original Publication Date: 20081201)

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