ACQNET v6n026 (September 18, 1996) URL = http://www.infomotions.com/serials/acqnet/acqnet-v6n026 ISSN: 1057-5308 *************** ACQNET, Vol. 6, No. 26, September 18, 1996 ========================================== (1) FROM: Marsha Hamilton SUBJECT: Publishers' Telemarketers (26 lines) (2) FROM: Doug DeLong SUBJECT: Publishers' Telemarketers (16 lines) (3) FROM: Linda Kyprios SUBJECT: Publishers' Telemarketers (18 lines) (4) FROM: Joyce G. McDonough SUBJECT: Publishers' Telemarketers (40 lines) (5) FROM: Cynthia Steinhoff SUBJECT: Publishers' Telemarketers (26 lines) (6) FROM: Roxy Zimmerman SUBJECT: Publishers' Telemarketers (11 lines) [EDITOR'S NOTE: Richard Jasper's question about publishers' telemarketers really hit a nerve! We got a number of responses immediately. But we didn't hear anything from publishers who use telemarketers. We have representatives from a number of publishers on this list. Any response?] (1)------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 10:37:06 -0400 From: Marsha Hamilton (Ohio State) Subject: Telemarketers - reply to Richard Jasper's query >Any more a week doesn't go by in which I don't receive at >least two or three phone calls from telemarketers trying to sell >me books...Do other folks like receiving these telemarketing >calls? I tell library telemarketers the same thing I tell telemarketers that call me at home. I don't do business over the phone but I will review sales literature they mail or fax. Then I forward it to the appropriate collection manager. A practice that created problems for us in the past was when telemarketers called collection managers directly then shipped a title and invoice to the acquisition dept. saying the collection manager approved it. Because that (infrequent) unethical tactic was used by a few telemarketers, I specifically tell everyone who calls that we won't accept titles unless we've issued a purchase order. If they insist on sending unsolicited books "on approval," we'll keep them as gifts. These warnings appear to have cut down on unsolicited materials over the years. Marsha J. Hamilton Head, Monograph Acquisition Division...phone: (614) 292-6314 The Ohio State University Libraries....fax: (614) 292-2015 1858 Neil Avenue Mall................e-mail: hamilton.8@osu.edu Columbus, OH 43210-1286 USA (2)-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 08:55 CST From: Doug DeLong (Illinois State University) Subject: Telemarketers I concur totally with Richard's comments on telemarketers. While I do not receive 2 or 3 messages a week; more like 4 or 5 a month, the people who do call me know little about academic library operating procedures. I ask for written material and if received, forward that to our collection development people. If they cannot provide, then we forget them. Of course, if we do receive the material, then I usually receive a call back a month later, by which time I have forgotten if I received the material and what I did with it! Is that a sign of maturity??? Doug DeLong, Acquisitions Librarian 309/438-3450 (voice) Illinois State University 309/438-5132 (fax) 8900 Milner Library doug@mhsgate.mlb.ilstu.edu (Internet) Normal, IL 61790-8900 (3)-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 11:58:17 -0500 (CDT) From: Linda Kyprios (Texas Instruments) Subject: Telemarketers In response to Richard Jasper's question about telemarketing -- telemarketing calls from publishers annoy me greatly. We will not place an order simply on the basis of a phone call. A flyer in the mail, an advertisement in a magazine, or a listing in the new title lists of our primary vendors WILL generate orders. We must have the ordering information in a printed form to check on previous editions, duplication among our libraries, etc., and we don't want to take notes from a phone call. It is my belief that publishers would do better to spend their money on printed advertising, web pages or email listings of new titles. Best regards, Linda Kyprios Texas Instruments PO Box 869305 MS-8432 214.575.3062 (voice) Plano, TX 75086 214.575.3318 (fax) email: lkyprios@ti.com (4)-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 13:44:01 -0400 From: Joyce G. McDonough (Columbia University) Subject: Telemarketers Richard- I consider telemarketing calls to be unacceptable behavior on the publisher's part. To state it in very harsh terms, telemarketing shows contempt for the librarians called. Telemarketing calls are an intrusion into an individual's work day. The telemarketer assumes that the librarian has no priorities other than to spend time on the telephone discussing a new item or explaining why a title wasn't selected. I don't have time for this. There also seems to be a common misconception that the telemarketer will be able to make a sale over the telephone. There is no instant gratification in acquisitions work. Most academic libraries have standard procedures related to budgeting and internal auditing requirements for handling the acquisition of materials. Normal processing would be for a selector to submit an order that is then searched against the current collection to ensure that this item is not already owned. The actual order then is placed by the staff in the acquisitions department, typically with a vendor. So how do I handle these telemarketing calls? The first time I receive a telemarketing call, I ask that the individual not place any telemarketing calls to me in the future and that the request be noted on the profile kept for the library. The second time it happens, I remind the caller of my previous request and ask for the name of the individual's supervisor. Depending upon the tenor of the conversation, I call the supervisor on the second call or wait until the offense is repeated. In general, I have found that this technique works fairly well to eliminate telemarketing calls. Joyce G. McDonough telephone: 212-854-4764 Director, Technical Support & Acquisitions fax: 212-222-0331 Columbia University Libraries 535 West 114th St email: jm86@columbia.edu NY, NY 10027 (5)-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 14:21:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Cynthia Steinhoff (Anne Arundel Community College) Subject: Telemarketers I get at least 2 or 3 telemarketing calls a week, too, And I agree with the original poster that many of these callers have limited knowledge of their products and academic libraries. We're a community college library, and the callers have even less knowledge about our market than that of the academic market in general. For example, we offer a paralegal studies program, which has very different needs than a law school, but try convincing a sales rep hungry for a sale of that fact. I receive calls from publishers wanting me to purchase books I already have on standing order with them, not a jobber. Some callers have disputed my statement that I have the book on standing order. And then, there are the salespeople who call the College purchasing office, the acquisitions technician, a reference librarian, and the Library Director, all in the space of 15 minutes, and are referred to the Collection Development Librarian by each one! Cynthia Steinhoff Collection Development Librarian Anne Arundel Community College Arnold, MD 21012 (6)------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 06 Sep 1996 09:43:03 -0600 (CST) From: Roxy Zimmerman (National-Louis University, Wheaton Campus) Subject: Telemarketers I totally agree with Richard Jasper on the subject of telemarketers. My standard reply to them when they call is "send me a brochure." Roxy Zimmerman Assistant University Librarian for Technical Services and Collection Development National-Louis University, Wheaton Campus Ph: 708/668-3838 x4610 RZIM@Whe2.nl.edu ****** END OF FILE ****** ACQNET, Vol. 6, No. 26 ****** END OF FILE ******