Kermit, Thanks for your feedback. Determining the success of a telemarketing effort is not easy with member or subscription services because it is related to long term retention. We won't know what the acquisition cost will be until we try the test. After it is over, we can evaluate the results and track the retention rates over a period of time and determine the campaign's long term effectiveness. Just to clarify, the test is not going to current ARRL members. It is going to lapsed members within an 18 month time frame so they are not really blind sales calls. The lapsed members had a relationship with us and know who we are. We will also gather some valuable feedback on why they did not renew. I agree that the timing is not great with the election season upon us. We will definitely wait to begin until after the election. We are being inundated here in Connecticut, and I am sure many other States as well, with both nightly live and robo-calls for our political candidates. 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL -the national association for Amateur Radio 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 (860) 594 -0220 -----Original Message----- From: Kermit Carlson [mailto:kermit@fnal.gov] Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 12:26 PM To: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B Cc: arrl-odv Subject: Re: [arrl-odv:19468] Telemarketing Trial Harold; I do agree that the issue of member retention is important and should be a high priority. But in following the discussions I do note the following; It is estimated that for $3,500 Graven, Austen & Drake will contact upwards of 2,000 members. If I use the 8.7% "close rate" experienced in 1985 with Telereach, this will equate to 174 members renewed at a cost of $20.11 per member. I think that this is an exceptionally high amount to pay for a low return. The proposal has a cost of almost $35/hour for the telemarketing effort which although might be the reasonable prevailing commercial rate seems to be a significant amount over what I would expect we would encounter using an in-house effort. My other concern still resides with the longer-lasting negative impression that I suggest will be retained by the other 1,826 members (out of 2,00) who are subjected to essentially a blind sales call in the weeks following months of mid-term election phone calls. I believe that this approach has the potential of low benefit and high customer dissatisfaction. Thank You, - Kermit Carlson W9XA ViceDirector - Central Division ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kramer, Harold, WJ1B" <wj1b@arrl.org> Date: Friday, October 29, 2010 10:34 am Subject: [arrl-odv:19468] Telemarketing Trial To: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Cc: "Petrilli, Diane, KB1RNF" <dpetrilli@arrl.org>, "Inderbitzen, Bob, NQ1R" <rinderbitzen@arrl.org>
In late August of this year, we proposed to engage the firm of Graven, Austin & Drake (GAD), a telemarketing company in Colorado to undertake a telemarketing test for us. Some Board members had some concerns about this experiment and we believe that we have now addressed them so that we can proceed ahead. Here are some additional details:
Contract:
1. Chris has approved the final contract after his modifications were accepted by GAD. Thanks, Chris, for your help with this one.
2. Chris asked Maria Somma, our privacy compliance expert, to review the agreement to make sure that it meets our privacy regulations here in Connecticut. Maria agrees that it meets the State of Connecticut privacy regulations.
The Firm:
1. Graven, Austin & Drake < (GAD) specializes in telemarketing for member associations. Here is a link
to their page on member associations < .
2. GAD has been responsive and proactive in working with us to get the best results from the outset of the campaign. Our previous telemarketing firm in the 2008 experiment did not play a similar consultative role.
3. Some of GAD's clients include:
* Federation of American Consumers and Travelers
* American Quarterhorse Association
* National Cattlemen's Beef Association
* Mercedes Benz Club of America
* BASS Fishing Club & Bassmaster Magazine
* Classic Chevy Car Clubs
* Christian Booksellers Association
* Sports Car Club of America
4. At GAD's suggestion, Diane Petrilli and I have spoken with some these associations and they give GAD high marks.
The Business Arrangements:
5. GAD will be calling lapsed ARRL members only and only those who are within 18 months of not renewing their membership. The 18 month requirement complies with telemarketing regulations.
6. The total cost is $3,500, which includes 100 hours of calling. Diane checked with a number of telemarketing companies and this is their standard arrangement.
7. We are able to listen in to all the calls that are being made by GAD and we can adjust the script and/or premium as necessary. These calls are recorded ( without credit card information) so that we can review any disputed conversation. Diane intends to do this.
Anticipated and Historic Results:
8. GAD estimates that they will be able to reach between 1,800 and 2,000 members in 100 hours and estimate a close rate of around 7% -- for at total of 140 renewed memberships.
9. For your reference, in November 2008 we used a local telemarketing company, Telereach, to solicit lapsed members. While we, ultimately, did not like working with them, Telereach contacted 1,047 lapsed members, converting 91 of them to members (8.7% acquisition rate).
10. Finally, Diane, and others on the Sales and Marketing team, believe there are some lapsed members who would respond to telemarketing but not to direct mail. We need to take a broader approach to reaching our prospects. At the least, we need to give this another try. If this works well, this type of program could produce some substantial membership gains.
I hope that this answers your questions. Now that Chris has approved the contract, we plan to sign the agreement and proceed with this experiment.
73,
Harold
Harold Kramer, WJ1B
Chief Operating Officer
ARRL -the national association for Amateur Radio
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111
(860) 594 -0220