月
Wednesday, August 20, 1986
City/Area
University Daily Kansan
Telemarketing becoming national sales trend
Companies sell wares over phone
Donna Hovey, program manager at Entertel, gives Cliff Hamill encouraging support while he gives a correct response to customer's question.
By Evan Walter Staff writer
Many people used to think the best way to handle solicitors was to slam the door in their faces without giving them time to stick their foot inside.
But now all they often have to do is hang up a phone.
■ See related story p. 5.
After-dinner telephone solicitors have made themselves familiar in many U.S. households, Surendra Singh, assistant professor of business, said telemarketing had become a national trend.
"In the last five or six years, there has been a surge in direct marketing, and telemarketing is a part of direct marketing." he said.
The total amount the American telemarketing industry received from sales increased from $7.6 billion in 1977 to $13.6 billion in 1983, according to a study by the Direct Marketing Association in New York City.
Many telemarketing firms sell commercial goods and services, ranging from magazine subscriptions to insurance plans to bank credit cards. Other firms collect donations for non-profit organizations.
Singh said he thought that telemarketing generally would work better for fund-raising than for commercial products.
"When you call someone at home, you are interfering with their privacy," Singh said. "They usually get turned off. But if you tell them you're working for United Fund, that's another story."
Not all telemarketing firms solicit homes, however. Many connect businesses with other businesses. Some telemarketing is conducted by interested consumers calling the firms, often through a toll-free number.
Interested consumers calling businesses is called inbound marketing. Outbound marketing is when the telemarketing firms call potential customers, said Dennis Rosen, associate professor of business.
Rosen said that sales revenue from telemarketing, both inbound and outbound, had been growing at an approximate rate of 25 percent a year for the past couple of years, with the majority of revenues coming from business-to-business telemarketing.
Not everyone fancies or has the needed talents for telemarketing. Rosen said a person's voice and character had a lot to do with the success a person would encounter in a telemarketing job.
"I think it's people who are good communicators and who like to talk," said Jack DeVault, owner of Telemasters in Kansas City, Mo. "There's an element of challenge. Not everybody is cut out for it. Not everybody's going to like it."
"A lot of the sales reps are either people in schools, actors or actresses who need money," said Nilda Castillo, assistant manager of the information central department at the Direct Marketing Association.
Singh said he saw two reasons for the success of telemarketing. Running a telemarketing operation is inexpensive relative to most other businesses, and it provides direct contact between the sellers and the consumers.
Many employees work part-time for these firms, and the work hours for consumer calling firms often run from 5 to 9 p.m.
Telemarketers also have an advantage over those who try to sell by mail, since mail can be easily discarded. Singh said.
Michelle Nelson, manager at Dial America Marketing Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., said the majority of the company's employees were college students and retired people working part-time.
"It takes much more effort to say 'no' over the phone than to throw mail away," he said. "When you receive a phone call, you have to act."
Major firms have been investing in telemarketing to service the more marginal accounts, such as asking for renewals for magazine subscriptions. Rosen said.
According to a survey by McGraw-Hill, a book publishing company, Rosen said, a good salesman makes about eight presentations a day. In many circumstances, the calling can be done in an hour by telemarketing.
Castillo said the success of telemarketing depended on the goal of the marketing and the product.
"In one situation, it might work best for fund-raising," she said. "In another situation, it might work best for businesses. You have to consider a lot of variables."
Singh and team marketing hiren have helpful for many small businesses. He likes to telephone general more effective than 'cold calling' — calling unknown customers who haven't expressed an interest in the product.
"I see a bright future for direct marketing over the phone," Singh said. "To do hard selling, telemarketing is not a good media. To give information, it's good."
"The hard sell aspect will decline. That will not be successful in the long run."
Outbound telemarketing firms rarely obtain the list of names to call by randomly selecting names from telephone books, Rosen said. Instead, they buy lists from list brokers and list managers, that are based on information such as what people have bought in the past.
"The more specific the list is, the more expensive it is." Rosen said. "If you've purchased anything in which you've placed your name down, your name is on a list. If you've entered any contests or bought a credit card, your name is on a list."
Most lists cost between $35 and $60 per one thousand people. As an example, he said there were lists with the names of physicists, elevator employees and leather goods retailers.
Although the lists are produced for all types of telemarketing firms, most of them differ in size and services.
Unlike many other firms, most employees at Telemasters don't work at the company's office.
"My callers work from home," said DeVault. "It's becoming more
See marketing, p. 5, col. 1
Wilfredo Lee/KANSAN
Gwen Kungenberg, program manager at Entertiel, gives an enthusiastic job-done to an employee who just made a sale.
Great pay good hours lure many
By Brenda Flora
Staff writer
Come on guys make those sales!
Smile!
Hey, way to go!
Sell. Sell. Sell!
These commands stand out among the rumbling of voices and the rows of telephones at the only telemarketing firm in Lawrence.
Entertle, 619 Massachusetts St.,
employs about 170 people. Most are
students from the University of Kansas,
Schwartz said. The company is
two years old, but has only been
Lawrence a little more than a year
"We try to maintain an environment that keeps the energy level high," said Robin Schwartz, president of Entertal. "It's the kind of job that people have to be motivated."
Entertel sells a client's service or through telemarketing - using the telephone to conduct business. They do surveys for clients as well.
The company's clients include the Chase Manhattan Bank, Players Club (a travel club), Mutual Benefit Life Insurance, and Zoo Books, a children's books series.
Entertel's parent company, Entertainment Publications Inc. in Birmingham, Mich., also sells its own product, Entertainment Mastercard, through Entertel.
Telephone sales representatives (TSRs) work in a room that has four rows of 20 people each. Each person faces the front and is about three feet away from the next person.
In front of each person is a telephone, a tape recorder to verify sales, a list of names and numbers to call and a program sheet. The program sheet has the exact words the TSR should use when talking with a customer.
The goal for the employees is to make a sale, get a lead or complete a survey
Merrick has worked at Enteric since June and is an operations assistant.
"I think our purpose is twofold," said Diane Merrick, Shawnee graduate student and an employee. "We try to present our client in a positive way."
"It's a fast-paced job," she said.
"When you first start your ears get sore, but you get used to it."
Steve Ferro, St. Louis senior, said that he liked working at Entertainer because he met a variety of people.
"It's not an easy job to do," he said. "You get verbally abused about once a month."
Esther Sparks, 28, has been working for Entertel for 15 months and said she handled customers who were angry by being polite and thanking them for their time.
"Sometimes they even apologize to you when you are super nice to them," she said. "They feel bad because they have been rude to you."
Although like the world of telemarketing, others don't.
See Entertel, p. 5, col. 1
State Sen. Wint Winter Jr.
File/KANSAN
Winter a winner in politics game
By Brenda Flory
State Sen. Wint Winter Jr. is a player on many teams, but the game he plays most is politics.
Staff writer
Winter, 33, was raised in Ottawa. The blue-eyed, gray-haired Republican senator won his 2nd District seat representing the Lawrence area in 1984. Winter was appointed state senator in 1982 after then-State Sen. Jane Eldredge resigned. Winter serves on the Ways and Means Committee, the Judiciary Committee and the Economic Development Commission.
"It's a challenge trying to ac-complish something for people." Winter said. "In a broad context I would like to see a better world.
"Government seems to get involved in everything, yet it is always asked to help."
"He's knowledgable and easy to work with. When I call him to talk about an issue, he comes down and tells me how he feels.
"He's a good team player," said Senate President Robert Talkington, R-Iola.
Winter said he hasn't always followed popular opinion or, at times, his party's opinion.
"We don't always agree, but I don't expect to either."
"It's easier to get along with the crowd than to support an unpopular belief." he said.
Because Winter's father was a senator and carries the same name, Winter has often been compared with his father. Many followers of Kansas politics might have the impression he is following his father's footsteps.
"I grew up with politics, but I feel I'm my own person." Winter said.
Winter Sr. was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He retired from the senate two years before Winter Jr. became a senator.
"He had to establish himself," Von Ende said. "I think Winter surprised them. He is independent and I think he has gained respect in the Senate."
Richard Von Ende, executive secretary for the chancellor and friend of the Winter family for years, said he thought some in the Senate expected the younger Winter to be an extension of his father.
But they are similar in a number of ways because they have often worked as a father-son team.
"What do ya wanna know about the little bitty boogar?" Winter Sr. said.
"We're competitive in a lot of ways. He beats me in running, and
"I don't influence him in the Legislature. He makes the decisions himself."
They have played rugby and basketball together, and both were centers on the KU football team.
"You would think basketball was the most important game in the world when you see them play together," Von Ende said.
"They are good friends and have a great respect for each other. Wint Sr. raised them to individuals and to stand on their own. I think they have great respect for him as a father because of that."
Winter Jr. may call himself a liberal moderate, and his father may call him a boogar, but others call him energetic, humorous, and
competitive.
"You feel comfortable with him the first time you meet him," said Penny McCurdy, Winter's secretary.
McCurdy has worked three years for Winter, who is a lawyer and partner of the Stevens, Brand, Lungstrum, Golden and Winter firm in the First National Bank Tower, 900 Massachusetts St.
"He has a lot of things going at once," she said. "He is constantly on the phone."
When Winter is extremely busy, McCurtry said, at times even she has to make an appointment to talk to him.
McCurdy said she often caught Winter with his stocking feet on the desk polishing his shoes while he was on the phone.
Winter has three daughters, Katie,
6, Molly, 4, and Elizabeth, 11 months,
who often accompany him to the
office on the weekends.
John Lungstrum, partner and friend, knew Winter when he was an undergraduate at KU.
Winter graduated from KU with a bachelor's degree in political science in 1975. He graduated from KU law school in 1978 with honors.
"He wore a sandwich board to stir attention on campus," he said. "He saw the importance of drawing students into the election. I felt this
He recalled Winter supporting the Robert Bennett campaign during the 1974 election campaign for governor against Vern Miller.
"He has coloring pencils that he keeps in the office for them," McCurdy said. "He gives them paper and they sit on the floor coloring while he's on the phone."
epitomized his eagerness and personal self-confidence."
Winter has been a partner with the firm since 1978. Lungstrum said that the firm hired him because he had exposure to the political arena, he seemed interested in serving society and the partners liked him.
"He takes his work seriously, but he doesn't take himself seriously," he said.
"He recognizes the work he does as a senator is important, but he keeps things in perspective by not getting in awe over the title."
Lungstrum said the partners understood the time demands that Winter had and made allowances.
"If we didn't have an interest in politics, things might be different," he said. "We often hash out problems of the world in office conversations."
But during basketball season, especially last year, the mornings were filled with talk about KU basketball.
"We thought about proposing resolutions praising Larry Brown," Limnstrum said, chuckling.
At the North Carolina State-Kansas NCAA regional basketball game in Kansas City, Mo., in March. Winter and his father ran around waving banners to get on television.
Winter's enthusiasm for his alma mater and his campaign for improving education in the state makes him an active supporter of KU.
"They just wanted to see if they could do it." Lunstrum said.
"He does precisely what any state senator from Lawrence would do and that is to beat the drum for KU."
See Winter, p. 5, col. 4