Telemarketing
Online Advertising
Telemarketing
Telemarket OfficeEarly History
Telemarketing is a registered trademark owned by
Nadji Tehrani who founded TeleMarketing Magazine in 1982. Prior to
that, the term was used extensively in Bell System communications relating to
new uses for the outbound (WATS) and inbound (Toll-Free 800)services introduced
in the late 1970s. It is a form of direct marketing where a salesperson uses the
telephone to solicit prospective customers to sell products or services.
Categories
There are two major categories of telemarketing:
Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer.
Within these two categories are two other broad divisions: Lead Generation,
where the objective is to obtain information and Sales, where the object is to
get someone to buy something.
Within these two categories, there are two other broad categories: Outbound
and Inbound. Outbound telemarketing efforts are proactive, with the marketing
person making phone calls to prospects or existing customers. Inbound
telemarketing efforts are reactive, where the agent processes requests for
information or takes orders. The demand is generally created by advertising,
publicity or the efforts out outside salespeople.
Telemarketing may be done from a company’s office, a call center or
increasingly from someone’s home.
Effective telemarketing programs often involve a two or more call process:
The first call (or series of calls) determines the prospect or existing
customer’s needs. The final call (or series of calls) motivates the prospect or
existing customer to make a purchase.
Negative Perceptions
Phone Sales Agent
The great majority of telemarketing presentations are legitimate calls from
companies that offer valuable services. Unfortunately, telemarketing has also
been negatively associated with various
scams or frauds like multilevel marketing, pyramid schemes or with fraudulently overpriced products or services.
The prospective customers are identified and qualified by various means,
including past purchase histories, previous requests for information, credit
limit, competition entry forms or application forms. Names may also be purchased
from another company's customer
database, or obtained from a telephone directory or some other public list or
forum. The qualification process is intended to find those prospective customers
most likely to purchase the product or service being sold or advertised.
Charitable organizations, alumni associations and political parties often use telemarketing to solicit donations.
Market survey companies often use telemarketing techniques to survey prospective
or past customers of a client business to assess market acceptance or
satisfaction with a particular product, service, brand or company. Public
opinion polls are conducted in a similar manner.
Telemarketing techniques can also be applied to other forms of electronic
marketing using e-mail or fax messages. (See
spamming.)
Telemarketing is often criticized as being an unethical business practice as
some companies make unsolicited calls, using high-pressure sales techniques.
Such practices may be subject to regulatory or legislative controls related to
consumer privacy and protection. In particular, telemarking in the U.S. is
restricted at a federal level by the FCC's Telephone Consumer Protection Act of
1991 and the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. Many professional associations of
telemarketers do have codes of ethics and
standards that member businesses follow to win public confidence.
Do Not Call Listings
Some jurisdictions have implemented "Do Not Call" listings, either through
industry organizations or legislation, in which consumers can indicate that they
do not wish to be called by telemarketers. Legislative versions often provide
for heavy penalties for companies calling individuals on these listings. The
U.S. Federal Trade Commission has now implemented a National Do Not Call
Registry in an attempt to reduce intrusive
telemarketing on a national basis. Although
challenged by telemarketing corporations and trade groups as a violation of
commercial speech rights, the National Do Not Call Registry was upheld by the
U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on February 17, 2004.
Avoiding Telemarketing Calls
There are several methods that people use to avoid telemarketing calls. Using
caller ID or a privacy manager can allow the targeted subscriber to identify the
caller before the call is answered and make the decision not to answer.
Answering machines and voicemail can also be used to screen calls, as
telemarketers generally do not leave messages. A device called the Telezapper
foils telemarketing calls by issuing a tone which causes the autodialer at the
call center to log the number as out of service.
See also:
marketing,
spamming
External links
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This guide is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
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