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Vintage threads from the first ten years

"Do Not Call" deadline is today!

8/31/2003 8:51 PM
Steve A.	"Do Not Call" deadline is today! Unless you really enjoy having your dinner interrupted by telemarketers be sure to list your phone number with the National "Do Not Call" registry. If you miss today's deadline you will have to wait 3 months before your request will go into effect. You can call this phone number to register, but you need to make the call from the phone line to be blocked: 1-800-382-1222 Or you can log on to their website: http://www.donotcall.gov Steve Ahola P.S. So when was the last time that the guv'mint did something beneficial like that? The telemarketing firms are complaining that the new laws will put disabled people out of work... Wah! I guess that they should have made more contributions to their local, state and federal representives: the US has the best government that money can buy!

8/31/2003 8:51 PM

Steve A.

"Do Not Call" deadline is today!

    Unless you really enjoy having your dinner interrupted by telemarketers be sure to list your phone number with the National "Do Not Call" registry. If you miss today's deadline you will have to wait 3 months before your request will go into effect.

    You can call this phone number to register, but you need to make the call from the phone line to be blocked:

1-800-382-1222

    Or you can log on to their website:

http://www.donotcall.gov

Steve Ahola

P.S. So when was the last time that the guv'mint did something beneficial like that? The telemarketing firms are complaining that the new laws will put disabled people out of work... Wah!

I guess that they should have made more contributions to their local, state and federal representives: the US has the best government that money can buy!

9/1/2003 5:44 PM
Lee M.	Re: "Do Not Call" deadline is today! Indiana implemented a "do not call" list over a year ago. I can't remember the last time a solicitor called me. It's wonderful.

9/2/2003 7:07 PM
Matt	This list sounds tempting but then I wouldn't be able to put all those telemarketers on hold "for just a second". What I really want to know is: How is telemarketing profitable? I don't know one, not ONE, person that has bought anything via a telemarketing call so it would appear that they must lose money on it. Yet the fact that they continue to do it leads you to believe that they don't lose money. Seems like somebody must be "pushing" telemarketing similar to the way salesmen "push" automated phone answering systems and big, powerful computers. They somehow convince management that they're going to save (or make) money in the long run. Sounds like a lot of "fuzzy math" to the nth power to me. Matt

9/2/2003 7:07 PM

Matt

This list sounds tempting but then I wouldn't be able to put all those telemarketers on hold "for just a second".

What I really want to know is: How is telemarketing profitable? I don't know one, not ONE, person that has bought anything via a telemarketing call so it would appear that they must lose money on it. Yet the fact that they continue to do it leads you to believe that they don't lose money. Seems like somebody must be "pushing" telemarketing similar to the way salesmen "push" automated phone answering systems and big, powerful computers. They somehow convince management that they're going to save (or make) money in the long run. Sounds like a lot of "fuzzy math" to the nth power to me.

Matt

9/2/2003 10:41 PM
Ross M.	Elderly people usually buy into it the most, also younger "think for the present" types.

9/3/2003 4:48 AM
Enzo	Matt, you make the classic error - I don't know anyone who does this, so it must not happen. I know nothing of you personally, but whatever your demographic, how much time do you spend in contact with other demographics? I don't usually spend much time discussing my purchasing habits in general, but if I do it is with my peers. I do not spend time in trailer parks, nor in those neighborhoods full of $500,000 houses. I don't hang with lawyers, doctors, or professors. Nor construction workers, custodial workers, or students, or UAW members at the local GM plants. My friends tend to be midle aged and lower middle class. They are my peers and they are who I interact with, but I can't decide they are representative of society as a whole. I don't know anyone who owns a Hummer or even a Lexus, I can't think of anyone who buys rap music. I don't know anyone who went on a cruise, and I have only met one person in my life who played the cello. But I can't assume from that that no one else does these things. Telemarketing works. You bet I hang up every time, but they don't get off the phone with me and discuss where my head must be at the rest of the day. They dial the next number. And they can call a lot of numbers in an hour. So what if only 1% listens and only 1% of them show an interest. A few thousand calls even at that rate and you have a sale. They sell profitable things. If they get you to sell your house, put in a driveway, new windows or siding, that phone sale nets them a fat profit. Telemarketers are not pushing dollar items. The telemarketers are screaming that this will put people out of work. Hah. They couldn't care less about the minimum wage people on the payroll. They are screaming because it is cheap and it works. How many cars do you buy a year? Add up all your friends, how many? And yet there is a screaming moron on the TV night and day every day hyping his car lot. You think he is losing money? There are a lot more folks out there than the ones we know personally. I hate telemarketers too, but it is effective.

9/3/2003 4:48 AM

Enzo

Matt, you make the classic error - I don't know anyone who does this, so it must not happen.

I know nothing of you personally, but whatever your demographic, how much time do you spend in contact with other demographics?

I don't usually spend much time discussing my purchasing habits in general, but if I do it is with my peers. I do not spend time in trailer parks, nor in those neighborhoods full of $500,000 houses. I don't hang with lawyers, doctors, or professors. Nor construction workers, custodial workers, or students, or UAW members at the local GM plants. My friends tend to be midle aged and lower middle class. They are my peers and they are who I interact with, but I can't decide they are representative of society as a whole.

I don't know anyone who owns a Hummer or even a Lexus, I can't think of anyone who buys rap music. I don't know anyone who went on a cruise, and I have only met one person in my life who played the cello. But I can't assume from that that no one else does these things.

Telemarketing works. You bet I hang up every time, but they don't get off the phone with me and discuss where my head must be at the rest of the day. They dial the next number. And they can call a lot of numbers in an hour. So what if only 1% listens and only 1% of them show an interest. A few thousand calls even at that rate and you have a sale.

They sell profitable things. If they get you to sell your house, put in a driveway, new windows or siding, that phone sale nets them a fat profit. Telemarketers are not pushing dollar items.

The telemarketers are screaming that this will put people out of work. Hah. They couldn't care less about the minimum wage people on the payroll. They are screaming because it is cheap and it works.

How many cars do you buy a year? Add up all your friends, how many? And yet there is a screaming moron on the TV night and day every day hyping his car lot. You think he is losing money? There are a lot more folks out there than the ones we know personally.

I hate telemarketers too, but it is effective.

9/3/2003 7:21 AM
Steve A.	Enzo: I hate telemarketers too, but it is effective. I suspect that a large percentage of telemarketing calls are for the various phone services (using the phone to sell phone service- what a great idea! ) A lot of "slamming" goes on with the customer signed up for a phone service that they did not want. Since switching over to MCI, etc. doesn't usually require a credit card number they can get away with it- at least until the customer receives their first bill! By that time the unscrupulous operator may have moved to a different company. The second most common telemarketing call I used to receive was for insurance from one of my banks or credit accounts. These two categories would account for at least 80% of the telemarketing calls I've received over the years. Now there is an entirely different type of telemarketing used by certain local companies to drum up work for their sales and service personnel. The largest residential HVAC firm in the local area has (or had) a room full of operators who would cover the entire area, asking people if they were satisfied with their heating and cooling equipment, and whether they having it maintained. This operation has been very effective in bringing in new customers and I think that it works better than direct mail ads, which usually just get thrown into the garbage. You mentioned other examples of "local" telemarketing like real estate, windows and roofs. As for demographics, does anyone actually enjoy getting interrupted in the middle of their dinner with a telemarketing call? I could imagine old lonely people wanting to hear a human voice but other than that I think that everybody complains about telemarketers (except for the telemarketing employees and executives, of course). But that isn't to say that nobody orders goods or services from them... but most people would not admit to it. --Thanks! Steve Ahola

9/3/2003 7:21 AM

Steve A.

Enzo:

I hate telemarketers too, but it is effective.

I suspect that a large percentage of telemarketing calls are for the various phone services (using the phone to sell phone service- what a great idea!

) A lot of "slamming" goes on with the customer signed up for a phone service that they did not want. Since switching over to MCI, etc. doesn't usually require a credit card number they can get away with it- at least until the customer receives their first bill!

By that time the unscrupulous operator may have moved to a different company.

    The second most common telemarketing call I used to receive was for insurance from one of my banks or credit accounts. These two categories would account for at least 80% of the telemarketing calls I've received over the years.

    Now there is an entirely different type of telemarketing used by certain local companies to drum up work for their sales and service personnel. The largest residential HVAC firm in the local area has (or had) a room full of operators who would cover the entire area, asking people if they were satisfied with their heating and cooling equipment, and whether they having it maintained. This operation has been very effective in bringing in new customers and I think that it works better than direct mail ads, which usually just get thrown into the garbage. You mentioned other examples of "local" telemarketing like real estate, windows and roofs.

    As for demographics, does anyone actually enjoy getting interrupted in the middle of their dinner with a telemarketing call? I could imagine old lonely people wanting to hear a human voice but other than that I think that everybody complains about telemarketers (except for the telemarketing employees and executives, of course). But that isn't to say that nobody orders goods or services from them... but most people would not admit to it.

--Thanks!

Steve Ahola

9/3/2003 2:35 PM
Matt	Good points Enzo. Classic errors are a specialty of mine. But I just get the feeling (and it's nothing more than just a hunch) that sometimes telemarketing isn't profitable. Just because it works for one company or industry doesn't mean it wotks for all. Just like automated phone answering machines are great for some businesses but it seems that way too many are using them, many that don't really need them. That's all I'm saying; it obviously works for at least some but it seems that too many are doing it. And to pick nits, whether or not a business is losing money or not doesn't really address the specific issue of whether or not their advertising (or telemarketing) is profitable. Thanks for the comments. Matt

9/3/2003 2:35 PM

Matt

Good points Enzo. Classic errors are a specialty of mine.

But I just get the feeling (and it's nothing more than just a hunch) that sometimes telemarketing isn't profitable. Just because it works for one company or industry doesn't mean it wotks for all. Just like automated phone answering machines are great for some businesses but it seems that way too many are using them, many that don't really need them. That's all I'm saying; it obviously works for at least some but it seems that too many are doing it.

And to pick nits, whether or not a business is losing money or not doesn't really address the specific issue of whether or not their advertising (or telemarketing) is profitable.

Thanks for the comments.

Matt

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