I made a phone call a few years ago to the Eden Project box office. As is often the way with ticket hotlines, my call was held in a queue. There was hold music and every so often a voice would cut in.
But unlike the usual “your call is important to us” or dull, generic sales messages, a Cornish sounding voice cut in and told me that bananas are indeed Britain’s favourite fruit. I was taken back by both the accent (not the usual, non-regional voiceover) and the message.
Later, he explained how indigo dye is in fact yellow until it touches denim at which point it turns blue.
Then… hemp can create four times as much paper per area grown as trees.
And… If you stacked all our annual household waste up it would reach the moon.
By now I was actually looking forward to each new interesting fact, and had forgotten about being held in a queue until a nice, helpful lady answered my call.
It made me wonder why so few companies use any imagination on their telephone hold systems. After all, it’s another customer touch point and an opportunity to stand out.
