Why is telemarketing back?

Popularized in the 1980s, telemarketing was a way found by companies to win and maintain customers over the phone, a relatively new channel in the homes of many Brazilians, especially from the middle class down.
Since then, the model has faced criticism for being considered inopportune and intrusive, and more recently, had its function blocked by the do not disturb platform (which allows consumers to take their numbers off the lists of brands).
However, telemarketing and teleshopping (a modality focused on the commercialization of products or services) gained new perspectives during the period of social isolation.
Brands such as Carrefour, Chilli Beans and Skol announced the use of the phone as a way to market their products during the period of social isolation.
Chilli Beans, which has never had such a service, created Telle Chilli during the pandemic by seeing the POS unable to function and believing that employees could make this new contact with consumers. In this way, the eyewear brand took its registered customer base and used data to customize the offers for them. Employees were trained for a storytelling approach to delight the consumer. That's 70 daily contacts a day.
"Chilli Beans has as a differential the human and personal side in the relationship in all points of contact. So we thought we'd take this class that was standing at home and put them in touch with our customers and the result began to appear much more than we thought," says Caito Maia, CEO of Chilli Beans.
The eyewear brand has a target audience between 18 and 35 years, but telemarketing has proved to be an efficient channel especially for the elderly public who, being a risk group, should avoid social contact and are not necessarily familiar with digital channels such as delivery and e-commerce applications.
It was with the intention of talking to the elders that Carrefour revamped its telesales service. Opened in 2016, the resource was a support for doubts and sale of non-food products. In the pandemic, he assumed the role of marketing food and more aimed at the public 60+.
"Carrefour has always sought to offer the best options and service solutions to its customers and, with the arrival of the pandemic, this effort intensified. We studied internally what could be done to ensure our customers the peace of mind that they could make their purchases safely and one of the initiatives we implemented was telesale. In some cities where the elderly population is larger, such as Santos, the teleshopping option has helped them a lot to make their grocery purchases," says Luiz Souto, director of customer service at Carrefour Brasil.
Like Carrefour, Ambev used the Anota there service to market Skol-branded products to the technology-friendly and older public. The channel was launched in May, in partnership with the application Zé Delivery, but has already had its functionality terminated. Orders made by telephone were delivered within an hour to São Paulo (capital, interior and coast), Recife, Belo Horizonte and Curitiba from Monday to Saturday.
According to the Executive of Carrefour, telesale was one of several solutions that the network strengthened to serve consumers safely during the period and enhanced the integration of its entire ecosystem: from business to sales channels. The digitization forced by the pandemic also allowed the brand to be present in different formats. "Carrefour believes that customer loyalty goes beyond the search for affordable prices, also involves the company knowing its consumer and its consumption habits, so the importance of offering a unique and facilitating experience," he says.
The insights obtained during the telephone service will be taken to other areas of Chilli Beans in order to gain new developments. In Maia's perception, the experience brought learning about customer knowledge. According to the executive, telemarketing needs to have a well-designed goal to work. "You have to have a reason to call, there can be just a random contact to offer discount. Customers need to feel that that contact was worth it," he says. Thus, Chilli Beans works with the offer of new models weekly and new collection every month.
The brand intends to continue the Project of Telle Chilli after the full reopening. Maia says the results were so positive that the company is currently working with eight pilot operating units for deployments across the network soon.
Carrefour has already returned with the original function of its telephone service in some Brazilian cities in gradual reopening and whose demand for teleshopping was decreasing. But in the coming months, the network is expected to redesign the service and use it during Black Friday to act in the food and non-food trade.
-Thaís Monteiro