Buyer's Problem as the Foundation of Effective Telemarketing: Operationalizing the Viewpoint in the European Environment

• Published in: Journal of Euro-marketing 1992-03, Vol.2 (2), p.91-104
• Main Authors: Saunders, Paula M., Brown, Herbert E., Brucker, Roger W., Khera, Inder P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advantages; Consumer behavior; Factors; Market strategy; Telemarketing
• ISSN: 1049-6483; 1528-6967
• DOI: 10.1300/J037v02n02_07

The use of telemarketing is still in its infancy in Europe. The advantage for European businesses is that they can benefit from much that has been learned in the US. Perhaps the most important revelation for telemarketers is the understanding that successful telemarketing strategies are conceived from a consideration of buyer, not seller problems. Therefore, telemarketing programs that reflect and embed telemarketing's most strategic components - the list, offer, and offer positioning - should incorporate the following: 1. a strategy for quick and clear identification of the presence and urgency of a prospect's problem, and 2. a strategy for putting a face on the offer that focuses the offer on the buyer's problem and, furthermore, on the buyer's most important current problem. Although the utility of the concept should be universal, its practice must consider culture, norms of social interaction in different countries, necessary infrastructures, and national regulatory variations.