SMART MARKETING: Telemarketing in Pest Management – Ugh!

Last October at the NPMA Convention in Las Vegas, I was on a panel with several other industry marketing executives when we were asked about telemarketing. We all rolled our eyes.

Let me say at the beginning, speaking personally and, to a degree, professionally, I don’t like telemarketing. I don’t like people intruding on my privacy to sell me stuff. I don’t take unsolicited calls at work and I am usually abrupt with those who get through to me at home. I believe I’m pretty much like most folks in this regard. So why am I devoting this precious space to telemarketing? Because in certain narrow circumstances, it can be effective.

Telemarketing is a classic example of throwing enough stuff against the wall to see what sticks. It’s a game of numbers. Talk to enough people, you’ll wear enough of them down to make some appointments and you’ll probably even sell some business. My concern has to do with the dozens of people you upset on the way to that one (and somewhat tenuous) sale. I also question the quality of the sale that’s made through this practice.

Telemarketing, "spam" e-mail and door knocking are all forms of the same "hungry" marketing tactics that highly predatory organizations employ. Personally, I don’t respond to any of these efforts. But some do and that’s why these tactics endure. So, if you’re going to resort to this kind of activity, at least do it in a way that leaves fewer victims in the wake.

YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD. First, internally executed telemarketing is an acceptable mechanism for up-selling to existing customers. It’s usually OK to call someone with whom you already have a relationship. We do this all the time and we do it pretty effectively. In fact, up-selling or cross-selling to existing customers is almost expected. Your pest customers deserve a free termite inspection as part of their service relationship with you. It’s the same with lawn care. And if you have a conventional termite customer you’d like to convert to baiting, same deal. Customers accept this kind of marketing.

Second, it’s probably OK to call folks that you’ve first "warmed up" with a direct mail solicitation. I know of a small company that does this extremely effectively. The owner of the company buys a list with phone numbers and mails out about 200 personal, handwritten postcards each week. The next week, he follows up on the phone, reminding the person that he’s the guy who sent them the post card. It’s small scale, personal and much more unobtrusive than the uninvited and sometimes incoherent dolt who interrupts your dinner to sell you something you neither need nor want.

Third, it’s OK in the commercial arena to use the telephone as a means of trying to get the name of the person responsible for buying services. Information gathering is much more acceptable on the phone than cold-call selling and if you stumble across the buyer on the telephone, it’s OK to try to schedule an appointment.

Our company has tried telemarketing several times in the past and has had mixed results. We’ve always managed to make some appointments and we’ve even sold some business. The flip side is that we’ve probably alienated some folks along the way and we’ve shown up for appointments that were allegedly "confirmed" but no one was home. Often we faced difficult prospects that weren’t that excited about us coming out in the first place. Another thing we noticed was that among those we managed to sell services, a higher number of originally telemarketed customers ended up canceling service than was the case among customers who initiated the process with us.

The marketing environment is getting more complicated with each passing year. Our industry is extremely competitive in terms of numbers of companies vying for the same customer universe. Elbowing your way in front of a potential customer just to make a presentation and proposal is getting more costly and, frankly, more difficult. Some among us are resorting to Draconian measures to survive and prosper. Telemarketing, in my opinion, is just such a measure. Use it if you feel you must, but use it wisely and sparingly.

The author is vice president of marketing/public relations for Massey Services Inc., Maitland, Fla. He can be reached at bbrewer@pctonline.com or at 407/645-2500.