values of quality and prestige to this ‘new’ audience and at the same time
to distance the VIP pack from lower-quality direct mail used by competi-
tors. By having separate documents for car models, specifications, prices
and so on, it was relatively easy to update the contents without incurring
the massive printing costs associated with reprinting the whole pack.
Telemarketing
In order not to lose momentum or allow warm leads to cool down, about
two weeks after sending the VIP pack Rover would call the prospect. The
trained caller would follow an easy-paced, conversational, but neverthe-
less largely scripted routine which was designed to establish:
●If the prospect had received the VIP pack.
●If the pack contained the relevant information.
●If there was still a firm intention to buy as stated.
●How Rover could help.
If the prospect’s personal situation had changed and the intention to buy
had been delayed, then the telemarketer would take notes about the new
situation and the database would be updated accordingly.
Help would take the form of offering prospects the opportunity of a test
drive at the dealership of their choice. Giving this element of choice was
important because some prospects would have personal reasons for not
wanting to use the dealer nearest to their home address. For example, some
might prefer a test drive during their lunch break and therefore need
contact with a dealer near their place of work.
For reasons of cost efficiency, up to five attempts were made to call over
a three-day period. Too big a backlog of calls hinders the momentum of the
overall programme. Also, some numbers may be wrong or may not be sup-
plied at all. Therefore, if contact could not be established, the elusive
prospect would receive a personalised letter which invited the recipient to
make contact with Rover. This was not the preferred option as it lacked the
persuasiveness of a live conversation.
Individual contact advices would then be sent to dealers informing them
about the qualified hot leads who required test drives. Simultaneously, a
letter was sent to the prospective customer confirming that a dealer would
make contact with them. A Freefone number was provided in case there
were any problems.
Dealer involvement
A fundamental difference between this, and previous programmes, is that
the dealer had no contact (or even awareness) of the potential customer
until Rover had obtained agreement from the prospect to take a test drive
at that particular dealership. All that remained was for the dealer to
108 Relationship Marketing