![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penpusherAs I continue with some of the more frequently asked questions in Telemarketing, I must tackle the one most important element of everything that happens in a call. I'm talking about getting a pledge for an amount or getting that amount on a credit card, or as I have titled it here, Paper or Plastic?
There are a few basic concepts at work when it comes to this process and so I have to go in a couple of different directions. This really isn't a meander in any way but to give you a full view of what happens, it's necessary.
A client hires a telemarketing company for a couple of reasons. It's a cost effective way of getting funds for them, and getting those funds sooner than they would using other methods. Typically, organizations send out glossy brochures, letters of appeal, emails, some of which are pricey and most of which go unread. But also getting a phone list is a good way to get feedback directly from the very people that use that service, which can be even more valuable than the funds, in some cases.
The appeal of using a caller is twofold. It allows less spam/junkmail (which a patron might eventually come to associate that organization with) and has that extra added element of customer service - a personal touch. And that role of the telemarketer is often there to serve a few purposes.
In addition to being a place to direct your misplaced rage over other things in your life that you can't vent to their proper directions, the typical telemarketer can answer most any questions you might have, help you through the website if there are other concerns, and provide you with an opportunity to give your opinion directly to the organization represented. There are always places in our forms that permit customer feedback, and if you, as the patron, have issues with something, those comments do get funneled back to the client. Really, that's a benefit to everyone involved.
Of course, the other, unsaid point about the process is a simple one. You can't just "ignore" or "throw away" a person on the phone, as you do with a deleted email or a trashed pamphlet from your post box! You have to have a conversation with that person, or, of course, hang up on them, and most folks aren't quite as rude as hanging up on a friendly, pleasant sounding voice that represents an organization you have previously dealt with (in many cases).
Okay, *some* folks aren't quite as rude as to hang up. Typically, people say something like "I don't want to hang up on you," right before they hang up. But the idea is to start a conversation, and if we're having a nice chat, you probably wouldn't just quit right in the middle.
Some patrons are real talkers! They want to discuss various elements of their experiences, and can go on, minutes at a time. These are people who typically don't donate to the cause, but use us as their social moment of the day. Hm. Maybe I should talk to them about getting a blog!
But to bring it back to our topic, if we do get someone on the phone, if they do like the organization we are repping, and if they do feel inclined to support, there comes that moment when we negotiate the payment.
Once the amount is established, the very next thing said is: "Will you be using, Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover?"
We want credit cards! We dislike pledges!
You probably wonder why that's such a big deal?
1. Credit cards are money in the bank. Once you give your CC info, the agreed upon amount gets sent to the organization as the transaction is processed. That means, those funds are ready to be used right away.
2. Getting the transaction on a credit card justifies the use of a telemarketer. As I stated above, one of the points of using the phone to raise funds is to avoid correspondence via snail mail. Using a credit card helps cut back on that.
To phrase that another way, if we didn't get credit cards, telemarketers would be less valuable, and likely get less used. If you want to help put a stop to telemarketing calls, never use a credit card!
But looking at it from the negative impact side...
A. Sending a pledge means extra paperwork. Where using the phone was supposed to be "more green," we're sending an additional pay slip and return envelope for you to mail your check back. The client could have done that without us!
B. When you receive that pledge, you might put it aside, or forget it, or decide you don't want to do it after all, and just not send it back. It becomes a bill in the mail, and a very low-priority one.
The point is that we want you to be enthusiastic about the organization we represent and we want you to support them right away! That's what the credit card (or debit card) does.
Now, the word "pledge" really means what it's supposed to mean: you are giving your word that you will do this. Still, it's not like a written affidavit... you could choose not to send back the pledge. And many do! But my company (and other telefundraising companies) do a few things that make it a bit more difficult for you to welch on your commitment.
First the call is recorded, and we tell you so. So, you know that what you say during the call is available for playback. In a court of law. I'm kidding! We would never take this to trial... I don't think. But if YOU think we would, okay!
Second we never send out a "blank" pledge form - it always has to have a dollar figure attached. Blank pledges are worth less than the postage used to send them. So we don't send them. We establish an amount that is a "guarantee" the patron will send back. If they send more, that's a bonus. One of my colleagues established a pledge amount of 100 dollars on one transaction. When the envelope was returned, it was for $10,000. But unless he established a base amount agreed to by the patron, that never would have been sent at all.
Third, we ask you to return the pledge within ten business days, and won't process the transaction unless you agree to that. Again, we want this money back quickly, before you spend it on something else like food or shelter. This creates urgency and hopefully gets you to send the check back fast.
As far as the telemarketer is concerned, there is another incentive to getting you to give your credit card: we get a better commission. Depending on the campaign, the commission rate for getting a credit card can be three, five, sometimes even ten times better than the commission on pledges. That's how important cards are to both the client and the caller.
If you do make a pledge and you forget or "forget" to send it back, you can expect a follow up call from the company to find out what happened and to likely ask you to process the transaction on a credit card. So, just one more call you probably didn't want to get, and one more call we definitely didn't want to make!
Clearly there is a trend toward people trying to stop the calls. Many are saying "I never do transactions via telephone," as a typical comment. People believe this is going to stop the calling. It's not. If you're on that list and no matter what you say about "never doing it," there's always the chance you'll make an exception that one time and put it on your card or pledge with the telemarketer (even if there really is no chance). So you will continue to be called, and you'll just say that line to whomever is calling.
As long as telemarketing companies are able to get funds from *SOMEBODY* out there, everybody will still be called, just in case!
There are a few basic concepts at work when it comes to this process and so I have to go in a couple of different directions. This really isn't a meander in any way but to give you a full view of what happens, it's necessary.
A client hires a telemarketing company for a couple of reasons. It's a cost effective way of getting funds for them, and getting those funds sooner than they would using other methods. Typically, organizations send out glossy brochures, letters of appeal, emails, some of which are pricey and most of which go unread. But also getting a phone list is a good way to get feedback directly from the very people that use that service, which can be even more valuable than the funds, in some cases.
The appeal of using a caller is twofold. It allows less spam/junkmail (which a patron might eventually come to associate that organization with) and has that extra added element of customer service - a personal touch. And that role of the telemarketer is often there to serve a few purposes.
In addition to being a place to direct your misplaced rage over other things in your life that you can't vent to their proper directions, the typical telemarketer can answer most any questions you might have, help you through the website if there are other concerns, and provide you with an opportunity to give your opinion directly to the organization represented. There are always places in our forms that permit customer feedback, and if you, as the patron, have issues with something, those comments do get funneled back to the client. Really, that's a benefit to everyone involved.
Of course, the other, unsaid point about the process is a simple one. You can't just "ignore" or "throw away" a person on the phone, as you do with a deleted email or a trashed pamphlet from your post box! You have to have a conversation with that person, or, of course, hang up on them, and most folks aren't quite as rude as hanging up on a friendly, pleasant sounding voice that represents an organization you have previously dealt with (in many cases).
Okay, *some* folks aren't quite as rude as to hang up. Typically, people say something like "I don't want to hang up on you," right before they hang up. But the idea is to start a conversation, and if we're having a nice chat, you probably wouldn't just quit right in the middle.
Some patrons are real talkers! They want to discuss various elements of their experiences, and can go on, minutes at a time. These are people who typically don't donate to the cause, but use us as their social moment of the day. Hm. Maybe I should talk to them about getting a blog!
But to bring it back to our topic, if we do get someone on the phone, if they do like the organization we are repping, and if they do feel inclined to support, there comes that moment when we negotiate the payment.
Once the amount is established, the very next thing said is: "Will you be using, Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover?"
We want credit cards! We dislike pledges!
You probably wonder why that's such a big deal?
1. Credit cards are money in the bank. Once you give your CC info, the agreed upon amount gets sent to the organization as the transaction is processed. That means, those funds are ready to be used right away.
2. Getting the transaction on a credit card justifies the use of a telemarketer. As I stated above, one of the points of using the phone to raise funds is to avoid correspondence via snail mail. Using a credit card helps cut back on that.
To phrase that another way, if we didn't get credit cards, telemarketers would be less valuable, and likely get less used. If you want to help put a stop to telemarketing calls, never use a credit card!
But looking at it from the negative impact side...
A. Sending a pledge means extra paperwork. Where using the phone was supposed to be "more green," we're sending an additional pay slip and return envelope for you to mail your check back. The client could have done that without us!
B. When you receive that pledge, you might put it aside, or forget it, or decide you don't want to do it after all, and just not send it back. It becomes a bill in the mail, and a very low-priority one.
The point is that we want you to be enthusiastic about the organization we represent and we want you to support them right away! That's what the credit card (or debit card) does.
Now, the word "pledge" really means what it's supposed to mean: you are giving your word that you will do this. Still, it's not like a written affidavit... you could choose not to send back the pledge. And many do! But my company (and other telefundraising companies) do a few things that make it a bit more difficult for you to welch on your commitment.
First the call is recorded, and we tell you so. So, you know that what you say during the call is available for playback. In a court of law. I'm kidding! We would never take this to trial... I don't think. But if YOU think we would, okay!
Second we never send out a "blank" pledge form - it always has to have a dollar figure attached. Blank pledges are worth less than the postage used to send them. So we don't send them. We establish an amount that is a "guarantee" the patron will send back. If they send more, that's a bonus. One of my colleagues established a pledge amount of 100 dollars on one transaction. When the envelope was returned, it was for $10,000. But unless he established a base amount agreed to by the patron, that never would have been sent at all.
Third, we ask you to return the pledge within ten business days, and won't process the transaction unless you agree to that. Again, we want this money back quickly, before you spend it on something else like food or shelter. This creates urgency and hopefully gets you to send the check back fast.
As far as the telemarketer is concerned, there is another incentive to getting you to give your credit card: we get a better commission. Depending on the campaign, the commission rate for getting a credit card can be three, five, sometimes even ten times better than the commission on pledges. That's how important cards are to both the client and the caller.
If you do make a pledge and you forget or "forget" to send it back, you can expect a follow up call from the company to find out what happened and to likely ask you to process the transaction on a credit card. So, just one more call you probably didn't want to get, and one more call we definitely didn't want to make!
Clearly there is a trend toward people trying to stop the calls. Many are saying "I never do transactions via telephone," as a typical comment. People believe this is going to stop the calling. It's not. If you're on that list and no matter what you say about "never doing it," there's always the chance you'll make an exception that one time and put it on your card or pledge with the telemarketer (even if there really is no chance). So you will continue to be called, and you'll just say that line to whomever is calling.
As long as telemarketing companies are able to get funds from *SOMEBODY* out there, everybody will still be called, just in case!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-03-05 04:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-06 03:00 am (UTC)There really is a lot of preparation that our managers do in order to get the client, to get the info and to get the callers up to speed. And I'll tell you, that makes a huge difference in both customer satisfaction and in results.
It's funny. My company will try to accommodate the client as much as possible, but I don't think we've ever dealt with any client that wanted to insert a lot of religious references. We did have a caller who would say things like "I'm praying for you," at times. She stayed for a while because she was earning some pretty good gifts, but ultimately, just like you were always told, it's best to leave religion out of the conversation.
And one more aside. A few years ago, we had a client that would pay the commission on pledges before they were delivered. We had one caller who literally would tell the people she called: "just say you'll do a pledge, you don't have to send it back!" and she would say to other callers, and even to a manager "I want to get more pledges and not as many credit cards!"
Obviously, the pledge payment policy changed after that, once the administrators heard her phone routine, and that woman wound up moving on to some other arena seconds after the tapes of her calls ended.