The Caller Complaints Community is a website channeling both the FTC’s Do Not Call List complaints and user reports of incessant (often automated) telemarketing phone numbers. Users can go to the site, research a phone number, or post their own angry story.

Over 125,000 complaints have been filed at Caller Complaints, and the community has grown to 350,000 strong since launching earlier this year. Numbers are marked as Telemarketer, Debt Collector, Political Call, Prank Caller, or Unknown.

And yes, they have a widget you can put on your website. Copying and pasting the widget presents a search box prompting a phone number search and the guiding refrain to the masses: STOP Telemarketers!

What happens after one complains about a specific caller? Well, that’s a harder question to answer, but one course of action is pretty brilliant, even if destined for abuse. As relayed by Ars Technica, call their toll free number from a pay phone, which will cost them at least 50 cents per call to reimburse the phone company. Enough of those kinds of fruitless leads and they may adjust their strategies.

Okay, so next question is: Have you even seen a pay phone in the past couple of years? Locating one of those in the age of cell phones is like finding a street corner mailbox in the age of email. At any rate, good luck with your vendetta, should you choose to accept it.  
 

The man didn’t state his name, but wanted to speak to the person in charge of the Google AdWords campaign, and seemed rather surprised that that person also answered the phone.

LaFata, who owns the small company too, was polite enough not to seem surprised that the director of Blueprint was making sales calls.

Instead, the real trouble began because of LaFata’s difficulty understanding the British man on the other end. Part of this may have been the accent, but LaFata says "profound" hearing loss is another factor.

When he told the caller he was having a hard time understanding, the caller asked him if he understood English, called him "rude" and "stupid as George Bush."

Ouch.

At this point in the story, you expect a quip like "needless to say, he lost the sale," but the caller really didn’t leave time to lose it. He hung up after sending a tongue-lashing across the pond. Had he not hung up so soon, LaFata may have had time to tell him he was being recorded.

You know, for quality assurance purposes. You can listen to the call at LaFata’s blog, and read a transcript at Daiv Russell’s Small Business Marketing blog.

LaFata says Blueprint Marketing called to assure him that the man on the phone was not a director of the company, and they were investigating internally.   

The DMA report found that the phone and e-mail produced the highest response rates respectively-among direct marketing media channels in terms of generating leads. In fact, the phone has been number one during the past four years according to this report.

The report also found that e-mail continues to have a high response rate too. This is good news if you are using e-mail and the phone in combination (using e-mail along with the phone is critical in the lead nurturing process too).

BtoBonline:E-mail, telemarketing garner highest direct marketing response rates

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Brian Carroll is the CEO of InTouch Inc. InTouch is a 50-person company focused on delivering effective lead generation solutions for “the complex sale.”

Brian authors the very interesting B2B Lead Generation Blog which focuses on B2B lead generation, sales leads, and marketing for the complex sale.

A recent BtoB Magazine article by Carol Krol, “Copy this: Telemarketing big with Xerox” shows that, although the phone may not be as buzz worthy as other lead generation tools, it remains the backbone to successful lead generation.

Still, as Krol’s article shows, the telephone shouldn’t stand alone. It functions best as the integrated hub for all other lead generation modalities and the central point for qualifying inquires and sales ready leads. And I have found no other tool is as accurate when it comes to collecting the qualitative information salespeople require to justify pursuing a lead.

It is fascinating to see just how versatile–and necessary–the phone is, with such applications as:

• Initial prospecting and qualification.
• Qualifying inquiries from various sources.
• Appending data and information.
• Reconnecting with past customers and leads.
• Centralizing leads for profiling and scoring.
• Following up on requests for information.
• Driving seminar and webinar attendance.
• Inviting and following up on trade show attendees.
• Validating direct marketing lists.
• Following up on direct mail campaigns.
• Building a database.
• Scheduling sales appointments.
• Developing relationships.
• Getting internal referrals.

To use the phone as an effective lead generation strategy, consider creating a specialized teleprospecting function within the marketing group. The teleprospecting program is extremely helpful in creating a functional bridge between the sale and marketing teams.

Creating a teleprospecting or lead management team, as an internal unit is easier said than done. So it is not surprising that more organizations are outsourcing their teleprospecting activities to companies like mine.

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Brian Carroll is the CEO of InTouch Inc. InTouch is a 50-person company focused on delivering effective lead generation solutions for “the complex sale.”

Brian authors the very interesting B2B Lead Generation Blog which focuses on B2B lead generation, sales leads, and marketing for the complex sale.

A: It depends on a number of things…

Is your company willing to invest in the headcount, facilities, management and training of the personnel required to get the job done? Many are not, which would lead to outsourcing.

Do you have experienced people to direct and manage the in-house telemarketing lead qualification department? If not, outsourcing might make more sense.

Can we find outsourced telemarketing companies whose people can have “peer-to-peer” conversations with decision makers? If not, in-house is probably better.

Do the telemarketers require direct access our CRM systems, customer records, or order and inventory systems? If so, you might be better off in-house.

Will extensive training of the telemarketers be needed? If so, it may be better to have it done in-house where you can more easily leverage existing training resources.

Will the project be ongoing or a one time or short-term project? If short-term or one-time, you are probably better outsourcing.

Both approaches (in-house or outsourced) can work, depending on your situation. But to be successful, be sure to hire the best people you can afford and give them lots of training.

M. H. Mac McIntosh is described by many as one of Americas leading sales and marketing consultants and an authority on inquiry handling and sales lead management. Visit his website at http://www.salesleadexperts.com, email Mac at mcintosh@salesleadexperts.com or call him at 1-800-944-5553.

Send your questions to Mac: Info@SalesLeadExperts.com.

In general, Mac will answer questions about proven strategies and tactics for: