On 28-2-2009 11:16, Chambers wrote:
> On 2/28/2009 1:15 AM, andrel wrote:
>> If you do you are paying to disturb another couple of hundred innocent 
>> people.
> 
> Very few companies call random numbers straight out of the phone book - 
> it would be extremely inefficient.  As with all marketing strategies, 
> the key is to locate those people most likely to need or want your 
> product or service; as a result, telemarketers aren't interested in the 
> phone book, but in specific calling lists (for instance, home owners 
> with >20% equity in their homes are a great demographic for windows and 
> siding).

That is totally irrelevant. I am not interested in windows, nor is 
almost anyone else on that list. For me it is just another unwelcome 
phone call. Sometimes it is even worse than simply unwelcome. So is it 
for the others on the list. Yet if there is just one in that list that 
buys, they are going to use part of the money to annoy me again.

> 
> I'm actually a big fan of targeted advertising.  I'd much rather view 
> ads (and receive phone calls!) about products that interest me.

if that happens once a year, that would be ok. Just as that I might live 
with one unsolicited penis enlargment ad by e-mail per year.

>> for who this unskilled labour is
> 
> If you think it's unskilled, you've never tried it yourself :)

It is unskilled in the conventional meaning of not requiring more than 
primary school. That not everyone can do it and that the best do have 
more education is not so relevant. To keep in line with my main 
argument: pickpocketing is also unskilled labour.
I will never try myself and would object to anyone in my close family 
that would consider. It is an unethical job, at least the ones that 
phone 'random' people during dinner and in the weekends 'because that is 
when the people are at home'.


>> OTOH they get paid to annoy people
> 
> Those are the ones that give the whole industry a bad name.  Believe it 
> or not, there are professionals out there who do NOT annoy (that's bad 
> business, you know).

Funny, I have never had a phone call then from anyone that did not give 
the industry a bad name.

>> It is an unethical job at best
> 
> Companies do the same thing to other companies all the time. Unsolicited 
> sales calls are a part of the business world, and quite necessary.  
> Imagine if you started a new business, and you were expressly prohibited 
> from telling people about it until they asked you.  You'd go broke 
> within a month, and never make a profit!
> 
> Before any sale can be made, a relationship must be established between 
> the buyer and the seller.  This can be done through a variety of methods 
> (print and media advertising, word of mouth, product placement, etc) and 
> telemarketing is just one of the tools a successful company may employ.
> 
>> and when the methods employed are illegal
> 
> The problem is NOT telemarketing (which can be, and is quite often, used 
> responsibly), but those who employ illegal (or even just annoying) 
> practices.

For the common people the problem *is* telemarketing, as they never get 
called by responsible telemaketers. So how would we know that these 
exist also?

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