Marketing Tip 001
So I’ve been receiving telemarketing calls on my cell phone. Apparently the law changed so people can do that, even though I am on the do not call list. But some of the calls I’ve been getting make me laugh. Particularly the ones in spanish.
Why? Well it’s because I don’t speak spanish. So I have no clue what they are saying. The person on the phone isn’t automated, so they are paying someone to call me and advertise something to me and I have no clue what it is!
So that’s the marketing tip for today.. Speak the same language as the viewer! Yes, this could mean actual language of english vs spanish, but also terminology you might be using.
If you are selling to a person who isn’t a marketer, saying “This is an OTO” wouldn’t make sense, whereas saying “This is a one time offer” would. Marketers know what the lingo is, but non marketers you need to spell it out for them.
Anyways, I made a hopefully funny splash page from the audio. I have my cell phone voicemails transcribed and emailed to me. It also includes the WAV recording of it making the splash page creation quite easy. (click that link for a free 30 day trial)
Wow! That’s an awesome splash page Tim, hilarious, lol. I’ve been getting calls with automated recordings on my cell phone too… none in spanish but either way I pay no attention to them.
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My favorites are the ones telling me that my car warranty is about to expire… I don’t even own a car at the moment, much less a new one.
Definitely good advice for a lot of call centers too. If you cannot understand the support, how can they help?
It’s like you press 1 for English and get more confusion than solutions. Ha ha, enter frustration and another bad mark for marketers everywhere.
-Jerokiah
LoooL i want a splash page like that one! And it was a great way to give a good tip.
haha nice one tim =P
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It happened also to me, they call me in american english, and after 30 minutes speaking fluently I say them “Sorry, I’m italian, no comprendo” :)
So they hangup immediately without greeting.
That’s marketing, in a bad way, with money thrown from their windows.
Goodbye !
Alessandro
I get a lot of those warranty ones also. The ones that really bug me are the the spam text ads. Depending on your phone plan they might cost people money. I think that is pretty nervy!
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That’s a good splash page! I like the humor that also makes a point. Keep ‘em coming, Tim!
Good advice Tim! I hate calling customer service and trying to communicate with someone who has such a heavy accent you can’t understand them. If it is an American-based company, for God’s sake, hire people for customer service who can speak FLUENT English!!
Another pet peeve of mine is the websites that absolutely butcher the English language. Hire someone to proofread your site! I’m thinking of starting a proofreading business. I bet I’d make a fortune!
Keep it up Tim!
Carole
Admin
Mermaids Magic
Carole, I am sooo with you. I called tech support for my cell phone and it took 20 minutes to explain a problem that should have taken 3. Not against people of other nationalities but companies should train them to speak better English or whatever language the customers speak.
Good post, Tim. I see it on my website from time-to-time. Someone joins, then tries to put up a web page that’a in a language other than English. I have nothing against other languages or the people that speak them, this is one world and we should all learn to get along. But, be real, if you join an English speaking website, then make sure you use English.
LOL! Good stuff Tim!
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The splash page was hilarious!
Good post too! You always have to keep in mind your audience and what they know and what they don’t know.
Ha! Thanks for the good laugh this morning! So true though about OTO, I didn’t even know what that meant when I first started internet marketing.
Oh, that was funny – thanks for the laugh. I do get them also but haven’t gotten one in Spanish – the others ones I hate are all the political ones also.
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In Britain, they seem to get around the call suppression lists by disguising their marketing call as a survey (as surveys are not covered by the call preference services). Do they do this elsewhere?
I’ve never agreed to take a survey, so I am not certain whether the end of the survey includes a question “Would you consider changing your XYZ service provider to this one?” but I am 99% convinced they do which essentially makes it a marketing survey. I am sure that the “questions” they ask are of a leading nature – leading us towards a favourable view of particular company!
Hi Tim,
The trend to use cell phones as a marketing ploy has not yet reached my part of the world as yet, but, no doubt, it will come.
But we do get the same sort of thing on our landlines from time to time and although they say they are speaking English, it is like no English I have ever heard.
Enjoyed the post and the splash though.
Les
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I have received this once or twice – I soon ‘resolve’ this issue :)
I used to work as a Telephone Researcher for a Market Research company, so I know the score :)
If a company introduces themselves as a Market Research company, or doing Market Research – politely interupt them and ask them if they are a member of the MRS – it’s the Market Research Society – if they say they are, ask for the contact number of the MRS so you can verify the company details -its a freephone number. It the person refuses / does not know – then you KNOW that they are not a Market research company as ALL employees will have this information made available to them.
I usually then go on the offensive and start to chase the company for fraudulently mis-representing themselves, and ask to speak to a superior member of staff.
So far I have had a 100% success rate in stopping these companies – they soon remove me from their list when they know they will get challenged.
Thats my Market Research tip for the day :)
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Tim
You’re right on the money with this one. Too many times people offer a sales pitch which only benefits the seller not the buyer.
Whenever I get a sales pitch on the phone I always stop them and ask them who they are and what is the purpose of their call. followed by, did I request the information?
You get some funny responses as the seller isn’t expecting multiple questions back. If I can, I reverse pitch them about my opportunity too. Now there is a tip. After all it’s a lead I wasn’t expecting.
Best wishes John in the UK
when I get calls like that all I say is no habla espanol and hang up. I was told you have to call from your cell phone to have that number put on the do not call list. just because you have your land line on a donot call list it doesnot automatically put your cell phone on there too.
I made the mistake of putting our home and cell phones on the Do Not list, now we got more ads just around supper time.
We have caller id so I usually check the (mostly 1-800) numbers and just let it ring.
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