A few weeks ago I was put on hold by a moving company sales rep while he tallied a job estimate for my business. Instead of hold music, I found myself listening to a prerecorded tape that introduced additional products and services. I found out about climate-controlled storage, custom crates for artwork and other things I never would have been aware of had it not been for the hold message.

The information on the tape was presented professionally. It didn’t come across as a hard sell, and the message was long enough that I didn’t hear about the same offerings over and over again. I was impressed that the moving service had taken the initiative to create it, and after hearing it, I had a higher opinion of the company overall.

Using hold-time to promote your business is one way to make sure you’re taking advantage of every opportunity to introduce customers to all of your products and services. Fortunately, creating a custom hold message is not difficult. Many phone systems with more than one line can be hooked up to CD or tape players through a standard wall jack using a connector found at most electronics stores. Modern systems may also have an electronic hold button, which allows a message to play when the hold button is pressed.

When you record a hold message, make sure the recording is high quality and the speaker is professional. Changing your message frequently at least once a month is also a good idea so that frequent callers don’t get bored or irritated by it.

Here are some ideas for how you can take advantage of phone hold-time to promote your business:

– Product and service overviews. You can use hold-time to introduce your offerings to callers. An added advantage of doing this during your hold message is that it may prompt callers to ask questions about your products and services when you return to the phone. This is the tactic the moving company used, and it certainly worked during my call. I ordered boxes and packing materials from the company after I learned that it would deliver them to my office.

– Special promotions. Announcing special deals on the products or services you offer can entice callers to buy more from your business. For example, you might announce a free gift with every $100 purchase in your message. Another idea is to offer free information to callers, such as booklets or product samples. This latter approach will also help you garner customer contact information for future promotional mailings.

– Advice. Use hold-time to establish your expertise in your field by offering tips and techniques in your message. The advice you give should be directly related to your core business. For instance, if you’re a financial adviser, you might offer tax and/or investment tips. Run tips by customers before using them to make sure they provide value and are easy to understand.

– Company news. Announce upcoming events that involve your business during customer hold-time. For example, if you are speaking on a panel, announce the time and place. Likewise, if you’re publishing an article, mention where and when. If your company is sponsoring a community event, promote it. You can also use this time to introduce new products or services that you will soon offer. Messages of this kind let callers know that your business is successful, growing and worthy of attention.

– Location information. By providing mailing addresses, driving directions and other contact information in your message, you can reduce the number of queries about this information. You may also provide callers with details that they need but forgot to ask about.

Alice Bredin is author of the “Virtual Office Survival Handbook” (John Wiley & Sons) and a nationally syndicated columnist.