Case for discussion - Telemarketing and the Job Characteristics Model The telemarketing industry in Canada has gone through some interesting times. In 2007 the telemarketing industry employed 155,000 people and generated revenues in excess of $25 billion. However, telemarketers as a group are often perceived to be just plain annoying by the customers. In recent years the industry has been hobbled to some extent by the CRTC's National Do Not Call List. This list allows people to register their numbers so that they are not disturbed by telemarketers (exceptions include calls from political parties, charities, newspapers, those conducting surveys, and/or those who have an established relationship with the call recipient). Indeed, Bell Canada was fined $1.3 million dollars for calling thousands of people on the Do Not Call List. Further, Rogers Communications Inc. fell afoul of the CRTC's rules by using automated telemarketing equipment to contact customers to remind them to top up their pre-paid cellphone plans. The result of this was a fine of $275,000 and the money was to be distributed to two universities: cole polytechnique de Montreal and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Other problems with telemarketing include fraud. For example, in 2011 a group of people from Montreal was indicted on charges of having scammed between $8 and $13 million from mostly elderly victims in the USA. Some telemarketing groups have begun to leave Canada and establish operations in parts of Asia where wage rates are relatively low. However, in some areas of North America such as Moncton, New Brunswick, the call-centre industry continues to grow. Despite its problems telemarketing has been and continues to be a major element of the marketing efforts of many firms, although it is likely to be a part of a multi-pronged strategy, not just a stand-alone tactic. What has been important historically to the telemarketing Industry, and continues to be important are things such as training, control and measurement. The underlying philosophy of telemarketing firms seems to be based on statistics... If the telemarketer can call enough people then eventually someone will buy! The job of telemarketer thus turns into one that is highly routinized, procedurized, and closely monitored ... just keep calling the customers. Compensation tends to be fairly low, although in-house centers pay somewhat better than out- sourced operations, on average $19.00 per hour versus about $14.00 per hour respectively. Conditions by many telemarketers are considered very stressful and employee turnover has historically been quite high, but some telemarketing firms have been developing benefits programs to combat turnover. However, one area of operation that has been emphasized by many expert marketers is that of the script and sticking to the script. Telemarketers must, with very few exceptions, stick to the script that has been provided and not deviate from it, regardless of the success of the script. It is not surprising that many telemarketers are frustrated, dissatisfied and demotivated. Case for discussion - Telemarketing and the Job Characteristics Model The telemarketing industry in Canada has gone through some interesting times. In 2007 the telemarketing industry employed 155,000 people and generated revenues in excess of $25 billion. However, telemarketers as a group are often perceived to be just plain annoying by the customers. In recent years the industry has been hobbled to some extent by the CRTC's National Do Not Call List. This list allows people to register their numbers so that they are not disturbed by telemarketers (exceptions include calls from political parties, charities, newspapers, those conducting surveys, and/or those who have an established relationship with the call recipient). Indeed, Bell Canada was fined $1.3 million dollars for calling thousands of people on the Do Not Call List. Further, Rogers Communications Inc. fell afoul of the CRTC's rules by using automated telemarketing equipment to contact customers to remind them to top up their pre-paid cellphone plans. The result of this was a fine of $275,000 and the money was to be distributed to two universities: cole polytechnique de Montreal and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Other problems with telemarketing include fraud. For example, in 2011 a group of people from Montreal was indicted on charges of having scammed between $8 and $13 million from mostly elderly victims in the USA. Some telemarketing groups have begun to leave Canada and establish operations in parts of Asia where wage rates are relatively low. However, in some areas of North America such as Moncton, New Brunswick, the call-centre industry continues to grow. Despite its problems telemarketing has been and continues to be a major element of the marketing efforts of many firms, although it is likely to be a part of a multi-pronged strategy, not just a stand-alone tactic. What has been important historically to the telemarketing Industry, and continues to be important are things such as training, control and measurement. The underlying philosophy of telemarketing firms seems to be based on statistics... If the telemarketer can call enough people then eventually someone will buy! The job of telemarketer thus turns into one that is highly routinized, procedurized, and closely monitored ... just keep calling the customers. Compensation tends to be fairly low, although in-house centers pay somewhat better than out- sourced operations, on average $19.00 per hour versus about $14.00 per hour respectively. Conditions by many telemarketers are considered very stressful and employee turnover has historically been quite high, but some telemarketing firms have been developing benefits programs to combat turnover. However, one area of operation that has been emphasized by many expert marketers is that of the script and sticking to the script. Telemarketers must, with very few exceptions, stick to the script that has been provided and not deviate from it, regardless of the success of the script. It is not surprising that many telemarketers are frustrated, dissatisfied and demotivated