and I'm talking to?

[Marq]

Never thought of it as a control issue though - I saw it as opening a dialogue that improved connection and worked on the emotional decision level.

Control is definitely a factor...which is why the warning bells ring and the shields go up for me.
I don't think it improves connection rather the opposite. Most of these calls are made from lists where where they have your name and know the target market in terms of a small business, private etc. So rather ask to talk to Mr Smith, the owner or just plug away and start the conversation on an even negotiation basis.

For me its like approaching a woman and asking her if she will have sex on our first date. What kind of reaction will one get? Of course there will be the usual 10% hit rate....but surely a better approach would achieve a higher percentage without making your company name mud.

[Dave A]

Oh, when you're canvassing I agree.

In my example I'm talking about when the potential client calls you! Most people will just vomit a figure back.

[Debbiedle]

Oh, when you're canvassing I agree.

In my example I'm talking about when the potential client calls you! Most people will just vomit a figure back.

Eeuuw Dave!! LOL

Yup, if you ask the client what their main reason for calling is (obviously in many and varied ways) and he replies, using his own words right back at him pretty much secures the sale.

Something like this:
Dave's client "Hi my name is John, tell me please what you charge for fumigation of a 100m square home in XYZ area"

Dave: "Sure think John can I ask you a few questions? Tks, firstly why are you fumigating? What do you suspect is wrong etc etc."

Once the client answers "Well we are moving house and the buyer insists because we have 13 dogs"

Dave's reply "Okay John- definitely the best thing for you to do is ABC, gets rid of all fleas, the biggest reason people with dogs fumigate, PLUS it is cost effective and you don't have unnecessary expense on a house you won't be living in much longer"

Result? 90% plus will buy!

[Dave A]

Eeuuw Dave!! LOL

Sorry about that

Point is just throwing/spitting/coughing up a price is not particularly attractive.

[Debbiedle]

Just kidding!

[mahoonas]

I don't mind cold calling as long as they don't waste my time. 20 seconds to listen to a product that I may want/ need is not worse than the 5 minutes of ads on TV. The nice thing about calls is that when you have had enough you just put the phone down, you cannot fast forward your TV ads (well you can, but not for most of us).

Personally I have a problem with big billboards and other graphic advertising. It has come to the point where you go into a public place and all you see is corporate grafitti everywhere. "promoting your brand" is about the same as vandals "spread your tag". Now even ADT had the cheek to nail one of their boards on my wall- blatant advertising because there is not a thief in Johannesburg who is repelled by a sign board.

[Marq]

Corporate grafitti and spreading tags probably deserves a separate thread as that has a whole lot of potential discussion.

While we are on telephone marketing scenarios.....

How about the trend thats growing where companies (of all sizes now) are putting an automated answering service ...you know the one.....'please push 1 for sales 2 for accounts...bla bla', but before you speak to the one and only person who is going to answer the phone anyway.......you get a run down on the companies hours office hours, what they do, what their latest product offerings, plinky plonky annoying 'music', and a whole lot of crap that is just wasting your telephone call money.

I use this time to review how important this call is to me and what my relationship is to the person/company I am phoning. Result has been.. a few changes to my suppliers.

[garthu]

Most excellent point. The personal touch of any company goes from something to absolute zero. Vodacom is the one that does for it me - takes ages to get the right people.

[Dave A]

I wonder how many clients you have to lose to justify the cost of a switchboard operator

Some folks do get this right where I don't find it a problem. But one round of selection please (OK - maximum of two in extreme cases).

Garth, I hear you about Vodacom. I had to call 155 last week and I think it was 3 or 4 layers (with some element of guess work thrown in) to get to the right "department." I've got to admit I'm seriously thinking of dropping V3g when the contract comes up for renewal. Never had a moment's trouble with voice, but data is definitely a headache.

[Dave A]

I know this is wandering off-topic, but just to add to the point above. I've just had to phone Vodacom 155 to sort out a 3g connection problem - 6 layers to get to data card technical support

[mahoonas]

yes, this morning I phoned Telkom. "Press 1 if you are calling from the phone that relates to the query" was included twice before I got to speak to a consultant. The very first question that I am asked by the consultant is for my telephone number! Seriously, and it is not just because of April fools- the number does not appear on a screen for the consultant!!!

[Dave A]

Internet browsing problems?

[Frankincense]

@Mahoonas....you were asked the number for authentication...whether agents' application populated with it or not..part of telephonic assistance culture.......and you may find repetitions become more frequent...watch your bank statement, lol...and finally even you may be duplicated...lmao

@Dave.."I'm seriously thinking of dropping V3g when the contract comes up for renewal"

...if you using one of those "dongle" thingies...leave it out..they are problematic from my experience...get a 3G enabled handset...the greater the HSDPA speed, the better...I run at 3.5G+ on my Omnia...and have a 7.6 Mb/s HSDPA rate...but bandwith varies..not quite ADSL stuff...but great...


I have a 3G MyMeg bundle from Vodacom for over 4 years now...absolutely no problems....ever....I use my Omnia as modem to connect...I personally don't consider any other alternative for 3G from other service providers at this stage...been to Neotel/MTN/Telkom..no thanx...not yet...

I agree, Vodacom's Contact Center IVR is problematic....but having worked in LARGE industry contact centers for years...expect it...just dig through the layers until....

Most IVR's for large "beast like" corporates have serious issues. From a current perspective: Be thankfull they don't check your DNA sample yet for access, or have your RFID implanted chip signal analysed for authentication yet....that's bad! We're still in the "answer a couple of questions" phase......and plough through a couple of layers...

[Dave A]

...if you using one of those "dongle" thingies...leave it out..they are problematic from my experience...get a 3G enabled handset...the greater the HSDPA speed, the better...I run at 3.5G+ on my Omnia...and have a 7.6 Mb/s HSDPA rate...but bandwith varies..not quite ADSL stuff...but great...

I'm afraid it's capacity problems at the towers in my area. Already acknowledged by Vodacom, upgraded about 4 months ago and now buried under the volume of traffic again already.

I've got iBurst for my daughter and Telkom ADSL at the office so I've got a direct comparison with these products. Vodacom 3g comes in a sorry third on every count except availability when I'm travelling. And I'm doing a lot less of that nowadays.

So I expect I'll go with iBurst for my after hours cruising and get that 3g phone, using bundle top-ups for bandwidth, for when I travel.

[Dave A]

Getting kinda back on topic, I think Standard Bank has got it more or less right in terms of layering their call centre. Part of their trick, though, is to have different call centres for different divisions.

Vodacom just seems to have everything under the one call centre including enquiries about their latest share offer for crying out loud.