Listbuilding Online: Learn From the Telemarketers

Remember the days when everyone was subjected to calls from telemarketers? How, until the “Do Not Call” list was instituted, we were all annoyed by phone calls from someone trying to sell something? Much the same could be said about online listbuilding and marketing.

Before the “Do Not Call” list, telemarketers had free rein to generate cold call lists. All they had to do was hit the phone books and build a list. That, or they could buy a list from others who had done that research. From there, they could call leads and distinguish their hot lists, or people who responded positively, from the cold lists, or those who responded negatively.

They didn’t stop making the cold calls; they just kept them at a certain level of promotion. The hot lists, however, were graduated to more profitable solicitations. Ultimately, this resulted in a level of annoyance that led to the “Do Not Call” list. They had to resort to and emphasize other methods of listbuilding.

Some businesses instituted voluntary lists. These were usually filled out at the brick and mortar stores. Eventually, some genius realized that this could be done online as well.

Online marketers are at a stage of development similar to the telemarketers around the institution of the “Do Not Call” list. Already, there are anti-spamming regulations appearing. This is mostly due to the same indiscriminate cold calling techniques that the telemarketers used to use. They buy random lists of people to send their promotional emails to.

In all reality, this technique doesn’t pan out statistically. It’s kind of like the guy who goes to bars or dating websites just to “hook up” for a night. Just as most women can smell that a mile away, so too can many online users tell when a promotion in their email box is just some one-time marketing sleaze.

Taking the “hook up” reference a bit further, let’s think of listbuilding as a means of developing relationships with potential clients. With this mindset, you put out the image that you’re looking for something long term. You will most likely get a more positive response. Of course, you WILL have to deliver on it to keep them as customers.

One of the best ways of doing this is to have an “opt in” box on your squeeze page. This puts your email promotions clearly in the solicited rather than the unsolicited category of promotions. It will get your promo emails out of the Bulk Mail Folder and into their Inbox.

While you have the attention of your new customers, you will naturally have to be attentive to their needs. A customer support staff, obviously, is necessary for this. Customer support will also serve another purpose in some cases.

When the customer calls the relationship “over,” you need to respond. Of course, as a person interested in maintaining the relationship, you will need to try and hold on to the relationship. However, there does come a point where “No means no.” If it becomes obvious it isn’t going to work, don’t be the creepy stalker. Let them go. This way, we as marketers can avoid a restraining order such as the “Do Not Email” list.