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General Motors, Kodak, Chrysler, Bell Atlantic, Braun, Radio Shack and even Ross Perot are hot on TV infomercial marketing. These half-hour TV commercials are a billion-dollar industry now. But by 1998, expect 10 times that in sales revenue.
The reason? Infomercials motivate viewers to pick up their phones. After nine years of hawking mostly diet and kitchen gadgets, major advertisers are finally understanding the power of 30 minutes to describe, demonstrate and extol the benefits of their products.
THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY IS WIDE OPEN
Telemarketers are getting the message, too. Billions of dollars are at stake. Fortunes will be made; new telemarketing corporate giants will be created, but only if they understand the keys to success.
Right now, there are perhaps only a half-dozen major players in both inbound and outbound infomercial telemarketing. They've learned their service lessons the hard way-through years of trial and error.
Telemarketers new to infomercials will be hard pressed to compete with these leaders-unless they understand the basics.
1. BECOME THE EXPERT--Too many telemarketers take a passive position with their clients-expecting clients to tell them what to do. Instead, the telemarketing staff of service representatives must be experts in infomercials, making shrewd recommendations based on experience. And if you, as a telemarketing firm, don't have the expertise, you need to buy it.
2. TARGET THE INFOMERCIAL VENDORS--Infomercial ad agencies, direct marketers, producers, directors and fulfillment houses are your key client referrals. They are typically the first to interface with the product advertiser. They usually recommend a telemarketing company to their clients--who listen very carefully.
Many of these vendors are seasoned pros. They know infomercials and they know quality telemarketing. If you want to get on their good side to obtain client referrals, you'd better demonstrate high-quality service and knowledge.
3. INBOUND OR OUTBOUND?-Infomercial marketers perceive inbound and outbound telemarketing services as the specialty of separate companies. You can strategically build a strong...