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BusinessVoice
Jerry Brown
by Barbara L. Roose
"I
come from an entrepreneurial family,” said Jerry,
founder and president of BusinessVoice, a Point-Of-Entry
Marketing agency that services clients all over the
country.”
"Nearly
20 years later, BusinessVoice is one of the nation’s
leading providers of On Hold Messaging, serving 6,000
client locations in the U.S. and abroad. The agency
has been responsible for many of the industry’s
innovations and has won dozens of local, regional
and national awards for its creative approach to on-hold
content.”
 There
are many traits a child can inherit from his or her
parents, from height to hair color. A few decades
ago, Jerry Brown and his six siblings realized they
shared another “genetic” similarity: salesmanship.
“I come from an entrepreneurial family,”
said Jerry, founder and president of BusinessVoice,
a Point-Of-Entry Marketing agency that services clients
all over the country. “My father owns Oregon
Realty. My brother Keith owns Brown Realty Services.
My other brother, Chris, sells commercial real estate,
and my sister, Wendy, owns Margaret O’Brien’s
StarBound agency. Sales is in our blood.”
But Jerry’s first job wasn’t in sales.
At 8 years old, he went to work hoeing in a farmer’s
field. He lasted just one day. “I made five
cents per row,” laughed Jerry. “They were
really long rows, and I don’t think I ended
up completing even one.”
After graduating from Cardinal Stritch High School
in 1977, Jerry pursued an undergraduate degree at
the University of Toledo. Although he enjoyed his
coursework, Jerry was so successful in the sales job
he held at the time that he decided to leave UT as
a senior and pursue sales full time. He’s never
regretted that decision.
After several years of selling large telephone systems,
Jerry discovered that the stress that came with the
job wasn’t worth it, unless he could be in business
for himself.
At the time, one of Jerry’s brothers was working
for a local car dealership and wanted some audible
advertising to play for his customers while they waited
on hold. A light bulb went on over Jerry’s head.
He didn’t know a thing about On Hold Messaging,
but thought it was a great concept. He began researching
the idea and found that a new market was emerging.
That’s when he founded PowerHouse Sound, the
company that would become BusinessVoice.
Nearly 20 years later, BusinessVoice is one of the
nation’s leading providers of On Hold Messaging,
serving 6,000 client locations in the U.S. and abroad.
The agency has been responsible for many of the industry’s
innovations and has won dozens of local, regional
and national awards for its creative approach to on-hold
content.
Along the way, Jerry and the BusinessVoice team developed
many other services and, eventually, the concept of
Point-Of-Entry Marketing. “There are three points
at which a customer can ‘enter’ a business:
the phone, a website, and the front door,” explains
Jerry. “We can use various services at each
of those three points to present a unified, consistent
marketing voice and important information to the company’s
customers and prospects.”
Jerry said that, because Point-Of-Entry Marketing
doesn’t require the purchase of air time or
print space, BusinessVoice clients can communicate
very cost effectively with customers on the phone,
on-site and online. “We work to help our clients
sell more to their existing customers. That means
that our clients are less pressured to always be looking
for new customers.”
“Point-Of-Entry Marketing is important all the
time, but especially in a down economy,” stressed
Jerry. “It helps increase customer share and
develop deeper relationships with existing customers.”
“We take a ‘partner’ approach with
our clients,” said Jerry. “That’s
a key difference between BusinessVoice and our competitors:
we’re consultants, not vendors.”
BusinessVoice creates about 25,000 On Hold Messaging
productions per year. Its employees also provide Point-Of-Purchase
Audio and background music for grocery store chains
and other types of clients; they design and build
websites with their in-house partner, WebArt; and
they provide many other related services, including
a new e-mail marketing program called BE-Mail. “We’ve
grown because of our marketing skills, because of
our long-term approach to client relationships, and
because we identify needs and develop services that
our clients want.”
Jerry is very proud of the many creative and marketing
awards BusinessVoice has won over the years. “More
than any other company in the On Hold Messaging industry,”
he smiles. “WebArt is starting to win their
share of recognition as well.” The web division
recently earned a “Golden Apple” award
from WantToTeach.com for its creation of the Toledo
Public Schools’ new website. It was named “the
second best public school website in the country.”
Although franchising offers have been flattering,
Jerry would rather focus on providing innovative,
high-quality services rather than franchise opportunities.
“It’s a thrill to help other companies
succeed. There’s nothing like having a client
tell you, ‘You really make a difference in our
bottom line’. It’s a great feeling.”
BUSINESSVOICE
1600 Madison Ave.
Phone: 419.724.7310
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