Sceptics Out There

[thally29]

Hi Guys,

Why is it that if we visit a supermarket, we always head for the buy one get one free offers; but if offered a business service free we all think there is something odd about it.

I am a partner in a small Telemarketing partnership and have recently been thinking of new ways to offer services to prospective clients.

One idea would be to offer something free but i do not think this will work due to people being sceptical.

Does anybody agree with this.

Thanks

Tracy

 

[cjd]

If you walk into a supermarket with a brand like Tesco and are offered a 2 for 1, you know you can probably trust it.

If you get cold called by an idiot from a company you've never heard of offering you something for nothing you'd be a fool not to hang up.

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Notice how Tescos never ever pick the brands that no-one has ever heard of. Always the top brands.

If you were BT offering me 6 months free line rental then I would be interested.

If you were from ABC and telling me you could halve my telephone bills I wouldn't be.

 

[mr magoo]

I believe the word free is fantastic for people!
If I called you up and told you I worked for Richard Branson and you could fly to his island for free you would be interested .
The fact the flights cost 9 grand wouldnt come in to it,
If any of you guys wants to offer my company a genuine FREE trial with a view to a long term contract?
mr magoo
scottish-property-sales.com

 

[garyk]

Well the biggest difference is that as you are already *in* the supermarket then chances are you are ready to buy, either as new or returning customer so its not quite the same as cold calling with the same offer. You have to first create credibility and give reasons why in your offer first.

 

[papverpoppies]

Notice how Tescos never ever pick the brands that no-one has ever heard of. Always the top brands.

If you were BT offering me 6 months free line rental then I would be interested.

If you were from ABC and telling me you could halve my telephone bills I wouldn't be.

If Tesco have walkers crips on offer - then so do most of the other supermarkets.
They must have such great power over these companies that they dictate the (when, where and how much)!

And, it is not the supermarkets taking the loss- its the suppliers.

I would not worry about people seeing your free offer as anything other than what it is meant to be!

The sceptics will walk away - but there will be plenty who do not!

After all all the supermarkets work on the 'loyality' customer basis, with club points etc etc.

So in effect if you give your customers something good - they will come back.

Good Luck.

Poppy

 

[MH1]

Understand the viewpoint, I used to sell cheap telephone calls through existing lines and was happy to work on the commission paid by the phone companies, then realised after an experiment I closed a lot more deals by charging £100 for the audit service showing the savings that would be made instead of offering it for free as before.

 

supermarkets offer known brands that sell at a usual price,so instant value appraisal is possible.

Earl

 

[Rainbow Chasers']

I think that is where i differ, as a bogof always is more about phscological marketing than a good deal - so i check it first!! I don't always trust the supermarket to tell me what is a good deal for me!

Take recently - tea bags 200 1.99 buy one, get one free. Big stand, flashing lights with bells, saying how good an offer it was. But the same brand in a 400 box was £1.64

So who is getting the deal? You often find it with two for two pound deals as well - it doesn't actually say it is cheaper, it just says two for two pounds. Lift the tag, and usually you will find that the normal price is less than a pound!

Always check the deals - it may be tight on day to day living, but in business every penny counts!

 

[nade]

The OP is spot on. The site that I have mentioned before (below) is all about making money for 'free'. As it sounds too good to be true people switch off immediately when I tell them about it. But the simple fact is that it has made me over 3k in the last year.
I'm afraid its a symbol of our lives !

 

[telemax]

If you walk into a supermarket with a brand like Tesco and are offered a 2 for 1, you know you can probably trust it.

If you get cold called by an idiot from a company you've never heard of offering you something for nothing you'd be a fool not to hang up.

Yeah but Tesco only do it to as a loss leader to get everyone in, and charge double the small shops for everything else, whilst happily putting them out of business. Is that really anymore trustworthy than your idiot (naturally all cold Callers are idiots) calling you with a free offer?

 

[cjd]

Yeah but Tesco only do it to as a loss leader to get everyone in, and charge double the small shops for everything else, whilst happily putting them out of business. Is that really anymore trustworthy than your idiot (naturally all cold Callers are idiots) calling you with a free offer?

Yes. I'm not making an decision about the economic relativities of big versus small companies or the unequal distribution or power between retailer and wholesaler or even the fate of our village communities; I'm trying to decide whether I'll use a second (free) bag of pork chops before they go off - or not.

And yes, by-and-large, all cold callers are idiots - or worse.

 

[telemax]

And yes, by-and-large, all cold callers are idiots - or worse.

Ohh well, i've been called worse

 

[Joe E]

2 things I've learned from this thread that Branding so its in the subconcious minds of the masses is a major key to prolonged successful sales and revenue and secondly that I must make a point of cold calling cjd some time just for the hell of it (only kidding mate)

 

[patientlady]

Hi Guys,

Why is it that if we visit a supermarket, we always head for the buy one get one free offers; but if offered a business service free we all think there is something odd about it.

I am a partner in a small Telemarketing partnership and have recently been thinking of new ways to offer services to prospective clients.

One idea would be to offer something free but i do not think this will work due to people being sceptical.

Does anybody agree with this.


Thanks

Tracy

Hi Tracy
Why not try out your free offer here and see if we are sceptical or not?

 

[virtuallysorted]

I don't think it's necessarily B2B or B2C which dictates the success of free offers, it's about the trust.

E.g. if Tescos are giving away free crisps I, as a consumer, am right there. The worst that can happen is that I don't like them and throw them out - I haven't lost anything. If you are offering as a B2B supplier to answer my calls or handle my data security for free, then there's an inherent risk to my business. You could annoy my best customer. You could copy and sell my private data to a competitor. You could promise to deliver a document by 9am and it never appears, making me break my contract with a client.

That's why you won't get many takers giving away business services. It's about perception of how you value your services and the risk that consumers are taking by using them.

Does that make sense?

Caroline

 

[Openeye]

Hi Guys,

Why is it that if we visit a supermarket, we always head for the buy one get one free offers; but if offered a business service free we all think there is something odd about it.

I think because we know Tesco's can afford to give stuff away free and small businesses cant so appearing desperate.

 

[jane p]

supermarkets arent offering anything free the prices have been hiked up elsewhere to compensate! Nothing is free you just think it is?

 

[stallfinder]

I think a lot of people are naturally suspicious when they're offered something for nothing because of all the scams that go on. When we launched our website we offered free business listings for a limited period and we were interrogated by a few people who wanted to make sure they weren't unwittingly signing up to some sort of hidden contract. I think often people feel more comfortable paying for a product or service than being given it free as they think there must be a catch or something wrong with it if it's being given away.