Why Telemarketing beats the Internet hands down

When Internet and email arrived everyone thought it was the next silver bullet to marketing. But more than a decade on and, with the onset of recession, we’ve found companies coming to us wanting a return to the old fashioned way of marketing - picking up the phone.
Last year the biggest transition for companies entering the recession was the need to swing from big budget brand building to pull in customers (usually through marketing spend) to a need to achieve direct and measurable results.

When times are tough more focus goes on acquiring new customers and retaining the ones you’ve got. Business development departments have needed to be more client focussed and sometimes the only way to do that is to pick up the phone. And while blue skies are on the horizon no one has been given relief from targets.

While there is certainly a place for marketing through emails, direct mail and door to door marketing – some of these techniques are either too far removed from contact with a potential customer, or too in your face.

Some would say telemarketing is in your face. We’ve all had those calls from people wanting to sell you timeshares and with whom you can’t get off the phone quick enough (or hang up on quick enough!). But if you get a call from a telemarketer offering something that you identify easily with – such as saving money on your power bill. And that telemarketer on the end of the line is bright bubbly and happy for you to opt out on the call, then there is more chance that you will want to continue the conversation.

During recessionary times, consumers are all the more open to saving money. Especially when loyalties are unlikely to be strong - including on something as unsexy on power (who cares where your power comes from?). Families often want the cheapest way to get the same product.
When it comes to the Internet everything reaches a crest. That’s not to say that Internet is no longer a viable option but you’ve got to be pretty clever to get past spam filters these days or catch a readers eye with a flashy advertisement on a website. And while not everyone is going to be interested, telemarketing is a very powerful tool, especially when the telemarketer is bright bubbly, can speak the language and understands when the customer hasn’t the time or is not interested and is only asking the customer for 30 seconds of their time.

Candice Rea

Customers Services Manager