Once upon a time, I worked for a telemarketing firm. It was my first winter semester break from college and I needed a job, so found a First Alert alarm reseller looking for reps.
I was provided tearsheets ripped straight out of phone books. I was instructed to cold call every number, one at a time, and schedule free interviews with the salesmen to show off the product. The consumer wasn’t required to buy anything; just agree to meet.
For each interview I scheduled, I received $X. If the person bought a unit, I received more. I lasted a week at the company before I was fired for not meeting their sales quota.
It is for this reason I understand the rep, pun not intended, of the telemarketing industry.
Despite the urban legend that your cellphone number could be sold to telemarketers, nothing prevents an advertising company from breaking the law.
The Washington Post decried the war on cellular spam in a cover story in March, blaspheming ad companies who break into secure data and harvest phone numbers for their use. These companies wouldn’t call you but they could send you a text message, and if you’re like me and frequently text, the charges can rack up.
The Post cited some providers who try to protect consumers:
Last year, Verizon Wireless sued telemarketers it said inundated its networks with more than 12 million unsolicited commercial text messages. In its lawsuit, the wireless carrier said it was able to block all but 4,618. Customers were hit with unwanted charges and the spam slowed legitimate traffic, according to Verizon Wireless.
With the economic downturn, though, some people will do anything for free money.
As a Harris Interactive poll indicates, 80% of adults and 70% of teens are willing to receive mobile ads in exchange for hard cash.
I’d rather receive nothing for nothing. What about you?
Related posts:
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- Twitter Meets Your Phone with PocketsApp.com
Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
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{ 5 comments }
Hi Ari – cold calling is awful isn’t it? I don’t imagine anyone stands for it for too long.
I won’t do any type of marketing that I wouldn’t like to receive and I really hate cold calls. We get lots of them and many companies keep calling back and hanging up after we say we’re not interested the first time. It’s so annoying. They seem to be able to get away with far too much.
Hi Cath, if you haven’t done it already, you can opt to add your number to a Do Not Call list.
I worked for MCI when I was a teenager selling their 5 cents a minute long distance service. It was a miserable…miserable…MISERABLE job. I think I lasted 3 weeks there before I realized that I preferred manual labor (lawn mowing).
And one more thing: I have had my cell phone for almost 8 years. I don’t think that I have EVER received a phone call or text message from a telemarketer. Am I a unique situation? I don’t ever hear my friends moaning and complaining about it either…
Are you charged when RECEIVING texts over there? That would be AWFUL! Spam texts and phone calls are bad enough without having to pay for it.
I took up telemarketing in a weak moment once, and lasted half a day, and in another weak moment that lasted 3 months, I did market research.
Nuisance phone calls really annoy us – I got a recorded one this morning saying I had “won” a holiday.
@Andy: About two years ago, I received some text ads on my cellphone. Then I found some FCC-related site that I entered my number onto and never received another message.
@Robin: U.S. cellular providers charge text messaging rates to both send and receive. The rates are different, though, and some plans may include so many of each as free. Also, receiving texts is one thing but opening up to view the data is where the charge comes from; if one never reads an incoming message, he/she won’t be charged.
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