Telemarketing Sales Leads and Data Appending information: Of course nearly every successful small business must be good at inbound telemarketing, that is, the technique you use when responding to customer and prospect calls. Details of this part of your business are covered in later sections. One organization to conduct extensive tests of 900 numbers is the City of Hope National Medical Center. The Los Angeles-area cancer treatment and research center tested infomercials that used 900 numbers to collect donations automatically.

 

Vice President of Development Tom Bagwell says City of Hope went to a 900 campaign because it meant substantial savings over traditional 800-number phone pledging, and because their research showed that the stigma of 900 numbers did not prohibit people from calling to donate. City of Hope sponsored infomercials hosted by actor Pierce Brosnan. Viewers were asked to phone a 900 number which would result in a $25 charge on their phone bill.

 

Even with these advantages, he says their most cost-effective use of the infomercial/900-number program to date is with local cable TV stations at broadcast times with ultra inexpensive rates. Add to all this, substantial costs for the advertising necessary to generate enough calls to make your program profitable. In addition, you will have some costs in collecting the information you provide or in purchasing the products you sell via the calls.

 

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Nine hundred numbers have also been used by merchants for catalog re-quests. Instead of charging directly for a catalog, marketers simply ask customers to call a 900 number.

 

Bagwell said collecting the money that way saved the City of Hope from having to bill people for pledges. An additional savings was the cost of the 800 calls themselves which Bagwell says could get expensive as donors sometimes turn short calls into extended conversations. After phone company charges, the City of Hope receives more than $23 of the $25 donated.

 

Some 900-number programs went further offering explicit recordings or "live phone."

 

 

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