Promotion, especially in the b2b marketing format, is a fluid industry that needs constant attention. Whilst some companies move forward with inventive and creative fresh strategies others appear to be leaning on tired methods that no longer hold gravitas in the modern world.
It's well known that creating a new marketing strategy can be costly and the more money you can put behind a campaign the better it is likely to be. However, with the country still in the midst of a recession, many companies simply don't have the money to put into the campaigns they would like to utilise. Unfortunately the oft 'go-to' cheap solutions are now outdated and ineffective. An example of this, that is still causing a problem, is telemarketing.
Not so long ago the only place we could to for a succinct directory was the Yellow Pages, this gave telemarketers the perfect opportunity to bring goods to the consumer, with little effort by the end user. In the modern day however, commodities such as the internet provide this service on demand, seemingly making telesales redundant. With a lower cold call success rate, we have seen call centres move abroad in an effort to cut labour costs - only further alienating potential customers who feel unable to relate the marketer.
It seems entirely fair to say that the population are truly fed up with telesales, especially as a way of winning new business where it is seen it as intrusive, rude and disrespectful. The problem with telesales is that the customers have 'wised up' and the irritating calls now do nothing other than make them feel as though their business means little more than a figure on a board. The entire method is now on a par with spam email - an annoyance you just want to get rid of as quickly as possible.
In a further effort to lower outgoings the companies employing foreign call centres have now found a new way to spend as little as possible on the scheme. Call centres have been reduced to automatically controlled call outs with a message instructing potential customers to press a button in order to speak to n actual person. Whereas these methods are indeed cheap, the real question is: can they still be at all profitable or effective?
The actual point behind this article can be answered by a very straightforward question: When was the last time you bought something from a cold call? It wouldn't be farfetched to guess that at least 99% of people reading this would answer at least several years in answer the above question. Further to foreign speaking telephone operators, marketers seem to have lost touch with their target audiences altogether, often calling around 7pm - when their customers are settling down for the evening. Cold calling telesales has become a non-profitable nuisance that seems counterproductive to any business.
The only way that the cold call method could possibly now be used is as part of a relationship building process, however, even then the company is typically looking at quite a few calls to build the relationship - at which point it may better to bring the calls in house (rather than abroad) as that is where the relationship will be based.
For any company reviewing their marketing strategy it would be strongly advisable to irradiate this ineffective method from the source: yourselves!
It's well known that creating a new marketing strategy can be costly and the more money you can put behind a campaign the better it is likely to be. However, with the country still in the midst of a recession, many companies simply don't have the money to put into the campaigns they would like to utilise. Unfortunately the oft 'go-to' cheap solutions are now outdated and ineffective. An example of this, that is still causing a problem, is telemarketing.
Not so long ago the only place we could to for a succinct directory was the Yellow Pages, this gave telemarketers the perfect opportunity to bring goods to the consumer, with little effort by the end user. In the modern day however, commodities such as the internet provide this service on demand, seemingly making telesales redundant. With a lower cold call success rate, we have seen call centres move abroad in an effort to cut labour costs - only further alienating potential customers who feel unable to relate the marketer.
It seems entirely fair to say that the population are truly fed up with telesales, especially as a way of winning new business where it is seen it as intrusive, rude and disrespectful. The problem with telesales is that the customers have 'wised up' and the irritating calls now do nothing other than make them feel as though their business means little more than a figure on a board. The entire method is now on a par with spam email - an annoyance you just want to get rid of as quickly as possible.
In a further effort to lower outgoings the companies employing foreign call centres have now found a new way to spend as little as possible on the scheme. Call centres have been reduced to automatically controlled call outs with a message instructing potential customers to press a button in order to speak to n actual person. Whereas these methods are indeed cheap, the real question is: can they still be at all profitable or effective?
The actual point behind this article can be answered by a very straightforward question: When was the last time you bought something from a cold call? It wouldn't be farfetched to guess that at least 99% of people reading this would answer at least several years in answer the above question. Further to foreign speaking telephone operators, marketers seem to have lost touch with their target audiences altogether, often calling around 7pm - when their customers are settling down for the evening. Cold calling telesales has become a non-profitable nuisance that seems counterproductive to any business.
The only way that the cold call method could possibly now be used is as part of a relationship building process, however, even then the company is typically looking at quite a few calls to build the relationship - at which point it may better to bring the calls in house (rather than abroad) as that is where the relationship will be based.
For any company reviewing their marketing strategy it would be strongly advisable to irradiate this ineffective method from the source: yourselves!
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