Why Telemarketing will not work

06.08.2010

Operators may face action for Telemarketing Nuisance

As I read the headline on the front page news of the Hindu today, I felt that we should be thankful that the FM Mr. Mukherjee got a call on his mobile from a telemarketer. Now, it is no longer, merely, a civic issue. It is political. The representatives of the people need to be hurt personally before they will even accept the existence of an issue. Welcome to Democracy!

That being so, the real and possibly only reason why the companies that attempt to peddle insurance and credit cards over phone should cease and desist immediately is because it does not work. The damage it does to their brand must far outweigh any enquiries they may generate through this mode.

There are many reasons why Telemarketing will not work:

a) Timing—Obviously no one in his right mind would switch off from whatever he is doing (which must be logically more important to him than an unsolicited marketing call) to listen to a bored, repetitive voice trying to get him interested in investing his hard-earned money or borrow at usurious rates.

b) Ignorance of the Caller—The cllers are invariably morons apparently selected on the basis of their inability to communicate intelligently in friendly tone of voice.

c) Follow up—Lack of—Even if one in a hundred (I think I am giving optimistic odds here) agree to meet someone from the company, the second moron (selected through carefully designed tests to ensure that he is an imbecile) who is supposed to meet the prospect usually screws it up by

i. Not doing so, or

ii. Irritating the prospect by assuming that the customer is already sold on the product and is fully aware of the subject

I seriously do not know, why they continue to do this as the cost per enquiry generated through telecalling must be quite high for the bank/insurance company.

SMS or Email may be better. But that is another issue….!