In June, The Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) sent its latest ProPoll “Telemarketing Laws & Your Business” to Regular Members with fax numbers. We received a 7 percent return. Bob Andrews sums up the results:
While the debate over the effectiveness and propriety of telemarketing has gone on for years, there is little doubt that this tool has been a player in building the nationwide customer “base” of the lawn care industry. Like it or not, telemarketing has probably brought more customers into lawn care service than all other efforts combined.
Times, however, change. And this mode of marketing is now under fire in many states as well as at the national level. Given the widespread use of telemarketing, and the current controversy surrounding it, PLCAA decided to address the issue in this ProPoll.
Question #1: What is your main method of marketing?
Responses were pretty well balanced nationwide: 20 percent ranked telemarketing as number one; 26 percent listed yellow pages advertising; 21 percent listed direct mail; and fully 26 percent ranked word-of-mouth as their number one marketing tool. The remaining listed “other” as their response.
It would be interesting to see the demographics here. Is telemarketing more successful in some parts of the country than others? Are large cities or rural areas more inviting to tele-marketing? The balance of the percentages, however, suggests that there are many marketing tools available to sell lawn care. In other words, I’d have been real concerned if say 75 percent of respondents had listed telemarketing as their number one source of sales, because regulation of it would pose a real threat to our overall ability to sell our services.
Question #2: Do you use or have you used telemarketing to sell current and potential customers?
Fifty-five percent said “Yes” and 44 percent said “No,” and one gave no response. Again, no real defining direction here. But I also would like to know how many members use telemarketing to sell to “current” customers vs. how many use telemarketing to sell to potential customers? There is a difference here.
Telemarketing should almost always be far more effective when calling a current customer who already has a relationship with your firm than cold calling someone who does not know you, was not anticipating the call, and who may already have an existing service.
Question #3: How effective is telemarketing for your business in terms of overall results?
The response to this question was a bit more revealing. While 17 percent felt that telemarketing provided great results, fully 56 percent felt that they had either mixed or no positive results from their telemarketing efforts. The remaining 27 percent had not ever used telemarketing and had no response to the question.
Question #4: How would you rate telemarketing laws in your state?
PLCAA members responded from 21 states to this ProPoll. Only three states contained a response that said telemarketing was heavily regulated. Twelve more felt that telemarketing was somewhat regulated, and the remainder stated that telemarketing was either not regulated in their state or that regulations were reasonable. Some didn’t list a state and out of these, six checked heavily regulated, 17 somewhat regulated, seven reasonable, and eight didn’t comment.
Question #5: Have the telemarketing laws in your state impacted your ability to sell and conduct business?
While 23 percent answered “Yes,” 51 percent said “No” and 26 percent of those responding apparently do not know.
This question brought out some real comments, which say more than simple percentages. Those who have used telemarketing view the assault on it in a very business-like way. Those members who have not used telemarketing view regulation of it in very personal terms. Their comments were strong and clearly showed their dislike of any telemarketing rather than the appropriateness of its use as a sales tool in the lawn care industry.
Question #6: What are your concerns/comments about increasing state and federal regulations on telemarketing including the FTC’s proposal to establish a national “Do-Not-Call” registry?
The responses here mirror those for Question #5. If you like and use telemarketing, then you certainly are not in favor of more regulation of it. If you do not use or like telemarketing, then you were very clear in your desire to see it done away with in general, not just for the lawn care industry.
Summary:
Are the days of telemarketing numbered? This is a volatile issue when it comes to the voting public and I simply do not see widespread use of telemarketing, by our industry, or any other, as a long-term tool for building business. Either federally, or state-by-state, telemarketing will be regulated out of the marketing mix.
I am hopeful that in the process, we do not lose the opportunity to call our own customers. Lawn care is an industry in which many of our customers are not home when we visit, and we need to use the phone to call their attention to problems in the lawn and landscape. Removing our ability to call a customer would be a blow. Think of it this way – what if your doctor could not call you to recommend further “tests” because by doing so he or she would violate some anti-telemarketing law?
Finally, while my firm does not use telemarketing as a sales tool, I am very concerned about one more bit of governmental intrusion in our lives.
If we believe that government should regulate telemarketing, then what is to stop government from regulating how much direct mail you can send, or whether you can use door hangers? See my point? Be careful of what you ask for because you just might get it.
The United States Supreme Court just ruled that a small town cannot require door-to-door salespeople to buy a permit and request permission before “peddling” their wares. I was glad to see that since it strikes a blow for free enterprise. As far as I am concerned, they can walk up and down Rolling Springs Drive in Carmel, Ind., all they want.
That is and should be their right.
And if I am not interested in what they have to sell, it is and should be my right to close the door – or hang up the phone.
Bob Andrews is the owner of The Greenskeeper, Inc., Carmel, Ind., with over 20 years in the industry. This article appears in the July 2002 PLCAA Member Bulletin. Visit the Professional Lawn Care Association of America online at http://www.plcaa.org.