Reality

Since everyone is talking about the inauguration and political topics, I am not. There are some very applicable marketing topics that pertain to President Obama such as Personal Branding and how people perceive you, but I will save those for a later time.Two days ago, I was at work and the phone rang. Our receptionist had already gone home for the day, so I picked up the handset. What did I hear? nothing…….for almost 5 seconds.I was just about to hang up when I heard a click and a voice says, ” Uh, yeah, Hi. Is Mr. So-in-so there?”

Telemarketer…..

I am very surprised people still use this kind of tactic. Not only is it labor intensive, it is VERY expensive. Below are the TOP three reasons not to employ a telemarketing strategy. ( there are many more than three, but I will keep it simple)

1. You are killing you brand. The telemarketing initiative meets with an enormous barrier. I do not know any one person that enjoys getting an unsolicited sales call from a stranger trying to sell them on God knows what! If you do happen to keep that person from hanging up on you, they are immediately defensive and angry. This creates a negative impression about your company and your brand.

2. In no way are you creating a lasting, real and authentic relationship with you customer. You may make a sale, yes, but you are going to have to do that every time for every sale. There isn’t going to be any revenue over the life of the customer. ( I guess it depends on what you are selling, but normally, you will have to repeat this process over and over and over)

3. You are wasting you money that can be used in other more effective mediums like, oh I don’t know, the internet!!!! Why in God’s name would you lease a building, pay for furniture, run phone lines, hire loads of people, train them, etc when you can create a website with great content that people can interact and learn about you and your products. Then create a blog (free), social media (free) and other internet outlets (most are free) and start interacting with your clients in a real way.

Now, this tactic may work for some and they may support it wholeheartedly, but i would never suggest to my company or my clients to do this when there are so many other great ways to reach your market.

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