Parmac Marketing

I admit it – I’m guilty! I’ve been caught stereotyping a “salesman” in the past. Hair slicked back, bright white smile and classically trained in the art of persuasion. Perhaps this is why consumers, whether it is individuals or businesses, historically don’t have a high opinion of salespeople. This typecast, coupled with the rise of technology as a medium to reach consumers began this new wave of inbound sales. Inbound sale is defined as a sale or lead that begins with the customer reaching out to a company or brand. A sales team using inbound sales spends their time studying buyer behaviour, consumer needs and anticipating the exact moment a buyer is ready to purchase. It is often considered more cost-effective and targeted. Outbound sales had developed a bad reputation with many claiming it’s not targeted enough and much more expensive than inbound. But what should a company’s strategy be when inbound sales efforts dry up? The truth is that sometimes inbound needs outbound....

As a sales representative for Parmac, I can safely say that a clean, updated contact list is key to maximizing efficiency. It contributes substantially to the success of a campaign when you are reaching out to the right people, at the right numbers, at the right places.   It only wastes time when I mean to reach out to an office and I reach a flower shop; or the customer I am trying to reach has since retired and closed shop. This begs the question: Why do so many companies strive for quantity when it comes to collecting those emails or phone numbers, rather than building a high-quality list full of people or businesses actually interested in their brand? I remember going to the university fair in Toronto and only really being interested in 2-3 schools. That being said, 17-year-old-me was also very interested in collecting free “swag” from all the other attending schools though. So of course I submitted my “fake” contact information for the free t-shirts, sunglasses, pens and bag...