opinion
The downturn is advancing and marketers, battling on armed with meagre budgets, are being forced to take technology to the frontline in the hope that software can save the day.
Malcolm Clifford commented "There are other technological resources at a company's disposal that can be put to work without significant extra investment. It's all about how you put that data to use. Call centres are one example.
"Where customers interact with companies via a call centre it's easy to add something to the conversation in order to get more from it. This could include collecting mobile phone numbers or email addresses, or simply asking people the reason for their call. They can then be grouped together, based perhaps on product holdings.
"These are very simple methods, but because people are not focusing on the opportunity the call presents, calls are too often seen as a cost. In fact, for the sake of an extra 20 seconds, you can increase the likelihood of selling that customer somethingby finding out more about what they want. In tough times you can use paper-based segmentations - and when the idea has proved itself you can justify spending the money on a software solution."
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