Time to Call-aborate
The new Do Not Call Legislation sends a strong message to companies to re-examine howthey do business with their customers. The days of unsolicited cold callshave been eliminated and professional marketing companies now need to focus their efforts on permission-based marketing techniques to acquire new sales more than ever.
This has been somewhat of a mixed blessing for direct marketing professionals. In the environment of a test and learn mentality, an ongoing challenge is the exploration of new collaborative methods and test vehicles for their business. Key drivers of these initiatives include exploring new methods of reaching customers in the on-line environment including directing more people to on-line websites, targeted email campaigns and/or personalized URL's (PURLs). Using these approaches either together or in part is definitely an advantage for those companies who have their own internal sales teams or call centres. Typically, sales teams have been an outbound group but have now been challenged to reinvent their contributions on daily processes to speak as inbound reps. The new focus is specifically on either existing customers to up-sell them or prospects who have made inquiries which will now allow the reps to speak to these prospects with the goal of closing sales.
Regardless of the products sold - these methods generate new sales, increase a company's brand awareness and will easily highlight those companies that are taking this strategy to a whole new level of customer care. The result in part of a company's reputation actively pursuing this strategy will be one that is personable, respectable and environmentally-responsible which will definitely result in win-win situation for both the customers and the business.
