It's the beginning of a new year, a new decade and a cyclical upswing in our stagnant economy.  Therefore, it's the perfect time for marketers to take stock and to resolve to make their direct marketing campaigns work smarter.  Here, with resolute humbleness, is the first of some suggestions for direct marketers to consider as they compile their resolutions for 2010:

1.    Listen to the Consumer.  Peter M. Leschak once commented, “All of us are watchers – of television, of time clocks, or traffic on the freeway – but few are observers.  Everyone is looking, not many are seeing.”

While we all know that the balance of power shifted from the marketer to the consumer with the advent of the Internet years ago, what are we really doing to listen to our consumer?  Certainly online marketing affects the ability to track their navigational behavior and the ability to divine a sense of what messages are driving click through and sales, but what’s missing in such analytics is perhaps the most important thing: the consumer’s voice.

For marketers using inbound telemarketing, call tracking and recording such as that provided by Dial 800’s CallView 360° can provide one cost-effective solution.  Imagine having the ability to listen to every single one of your inbound consumer inquiries to cull insight that helps you proactively address objections, optimize your sales message, and close more sales?

While focus groups have been the preferred avenue for gaining such insight, they are often cost prohibitive and, while capable of giving a marketer solid qualitative acuity, are typically limited quantitatively by the number of participants due to their cost.  In other words, while you may hear from a dozen or two consumers in a typical focus group endeavor, imagine if you could scale that up to a critical mass number that is statistically sound – say hundreds of consumer voices – for a fraction of the cost of focus groups?  With unlimited call recording, a marketer can obtain both powerful qualitative and quantitative data.  Your laboratory isn’t a shadowy room with a one-way mirror and too many gut-busting snacks, it’s as mobile and convenient as your laptop computer which enables you to access the data anywhere and anytime that works for you.

Think of call tracking and recording as field research where the field is brought to you.  Your task becomes listening, a skill that has become lost amid our cacophony of information overload, but one that can serve as a potent instrument when wielded by a marketer willing to invest their time and intelligence; a tool to mark a new era of prosperity as you embark on a new year.

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 By Scott “the Optimizer” Richards, CEO, Dial 800