Does it infuriate you or help you sell? Should a business call and write to clients?

According to VTsIOM, 29% of Russians surveyed receive advertising messages daily, another 24% receive advertising messages once or several times a week. 63% are irritated by such calls and mailings.

Behind the dry numbers there are ordinary stories. For example, gyms rarely list prices on their websites. They ask for a phone number and promise that a manager will contact you. But the problem is that this will not be a one-time consultation. It is likely that the establishment will subsequently be inundated with calls or messages, although the client has not yet become interested in it “on approach.”

If we take the average person who rarely changes SIM cards, then he constantly receives calls, SMS, letters, instant messages about promotions, promotional offers, and so on. What’s more, happy birthday is usually congratulated by more brands than friends. Often it is simply physically impossible to study all the materials, and this is at best. At worst, they are simply annoying.

Therefore, a new entrepreneur may be faced with the question: if this infuriates people, is it worth calling and writing? We figure it out with the help of experienced businessmen and marketers.

Are calls and mailings effective?

It may seem like the calls and messages are just spam. If a person wants to buy a product or use a service, he will simply go to social network or go to the site and find out everything yourself. However, the experience of businessmen says that this is not so. There are consumers dissatisfied with the mailings. But in general, letters and calls allow you to establish a more personal connection with clients.

At the same time, according to Gogina, uncontrolled and excessive mailings or calls can really irritate people. Constant harassment can harm your brand's reputation and turn off potential customers.

Therefore, it is important to think through a strategy for interacting with consumers so as not to turn a useful tool into annoying spam.

How to make mailings and calls useful, not annoying

Personalize the interaction

A lifeless voice on the phone speaks scripted phrases - for many, such a call makes them want to hang up immediately after the greeting. And clients often do this.

But let's imagine a different situation. Once a month person getting a haircut in the cabin. The approximate date approaches, the manager calls and says that there is an offer for the client: if you sign up during the daytime, you can get a 20% discount. This is a useful call for the consumer, it helps to save money. But this is also a trick for the salon, because in the evening they are fully loaded, and during the day the masters sit idle. And getting 80% income is better than zero. Everyone wins, and the client is likely to be satisfied: he needs this service, and he can save money if he is free during the day. If he is busy, then at least with a high probability he feels that he is taken care of.

These two examples clearly show the difference between a universal approach and a personalized one.

Explore possible communication channels

Some brands use all communication channels simultaneously. And the same user can receive a letter, SMS and call almost simultaneously. This is not necessary for obvious reasons. But the task with an asterisk is to understand how it is more convenient for clients to interact.

For example, telephone calls now have a bad reputation. People more often are corresponding, and for many, the incoming message on the screen means that either something happened or it’s spam. So sometimes it's not the best channel of interaction.

But in some cases, a phone call may be necessary because dialogue is important.

And sometimes it is not at all necessary to contact clients directly, for example, if we are talking about mass audience coverage. According to Egor Egorov, if the goal is to convey information to a million people, then the most effective channel will be publication in social network, where you can quickly get high coverage.

Give the client a choice

Spam differs from effective interaction in that it bursts into life unexpectedly and is assessed as unwanted. The addressee does not control it, and this throws a coin into the treasury of irritation.

But you can do it differently. For example, ask the client which channel is more convenient for him to communicate. Let’s say a person uses one messenger only for work, and he doesn’t like the fact that someone breaks in there with a newsletter. But in another application, the consumer is ready to view information about your promotions. He should also have the ability to interrupt the interaction.

Don't be frequent

There are no tablets on which it is engraved how regularly you can write and call clients. So we will have to solve this by testing different hypotheses.