The Influence of the Factor of Providing Additional Contact Information by the Client on the Outcome of the Transaction in Telemarketing

Timofeev Mikhail Vladimirovich ORCID: 0009-0002-0094-0361 Telemarketing Department Specialist, Rostelecom Public Joint Stock Company 115172, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Goncharnaya str., 30 1 krokodil2@mail.ru

         Introduction        

To date, there is a lot of journalistic and scientific literature about the theory of negotiations in sales, about the psychology of the buyer, about marketing. The study of negotiation processes primarily concerns international processes ^{[28, 37]}, At the same time, not so many scientific articles are devoted to a detailed analysis of the course of negotiations in sales to mass consumers through voice communication. In 2019, a study was published on 109 respondents, which analyzed the refusals of Britons to the seller's offer. Refusals are divided into classes. The general reason, based on the results, can be considered that "cold" calls were perceived by respondents as an invasion of personal space. The failures themselves are divided into classes, which makes it possible for more detailed further research^[36]. Sometimes you can find the term "voice sales" or "voice marketing" ^[9]. However, in the context of this study, the more common term "telemarketing" will be used. In the scientific article of Popova P. A. it is said that "...Telemarketing is an element of the marketing system, which is a set of processes and actions aimed at satisfying the customer's needs for information using telecommunications and having as their ultimate goal the transaction." ^[13]. Telemarketing implies a dialogue between two, less often three or more persons. "... dialogic speech has, in addition to the means of language codes, a whole range of additional expressive means or markers. These include prosodic markers: intonation, voice selection of individual text components, the use of a pause system, etc." ^{[8, p.189]}. An experienced manager uses these markers to increase the success of negotiations with the client. The influence of telemarketing on decision-making by customers (consumers) is very significant, which is confirmed in a scientific study ^[26]. Business actively uses modern technologies, commonly referred to as artificial intelligence (AI). There is even a theory of the fifth industrial revolution ^[38]. Robots have already partially replaced sales managers. And research and monographs are devoted to the relationship of AI with humans, in particular with clients ^[4]. But for now, the skills of a sales manager are in demand and cannot be completely replaced by a robot. A robot based on artificial intelligence can cope with simpler tasks, while complex tasks are left to people, as evidenced by a recent study ^[40].

         Often in the regulations of companies for managers of the telemarketing department in the B2C sector (from the English “business-to-consumer" business for the consumer) there are mandatory clauses about the need to take additional contact information from clients, for example, a second phone number, and complete transactions by providing services to the client for a period of no more than a week, assuming that the shorter the period from the start of negotiations to the provision of services or the purchase of goods, the less the risks associated with refusal on the part of the client. This position fits perfectly into the results of research on impulse purchases. For example, the article "Telemarketing and Consumer Purchase Behavior of Food and Beverage Firm in Port Harcourt Metropolis" shows that 40% of consumers spend more in regular stores, versus 25% in online platforms. Consequently, with a smaller time limit, the share of impulse purchases is greater ^[27]. In more detail, the factors influencing impulse, emotional purchases are analyzed by researchers Paula Lopez and Miguel Valeria ^[35].

         An additional contact number will allow you to contact the client or his representative if the client cannot be reached by the first phone number. At the same time, there are currently few studies confirming or refuting the above assumption. More often, studies relate to assessing the quality of the negotiations themselves and compliance with the rules and regulations on checklists ^[1]. Or more global studies, such as those that formed the basis of the SPIN-sales technique. SPIN is an abbreviation of the groups of issues underlying the technique: situational, problematic, extracting, guiding ^{[16, p.135, 33]}. There are articles about the model of consumer behavior, based on the models put forward by Z. Freud, A. Maslow, F. Herzberg. The articles summarize research on psychology in relation to modern marketing ^{[12, 14]}. Many researchers, including G. V. Karvitskaya, note that due to the accumulated knowledge and statistics, the study of customer behavior and their relationship with the company and its brand, should begin with the typification of the customers themselves, taking into account their specifics, stereotypes, motivation of consumer behavior ^[6].

         This scientific article will present a study of the influence of the factor of providing additional contact information (contact phone number) of the client on the successful completion of the transaction. A special feature is the situation typical for telemarketing and "cold" calls, when there is minimal information about the client, but quite complete about the course of negotiations and the outcome of the transaction. The study will use data from an earlier article ^[20] and expand the set of statistical methods for testing hypotheses. The successful completion of the transaction will mean the conclusion of an agreement with the client, after the stages of negotiations and the connection of broadband Internet access services.

         Research results        

Checking the relationship of the additional contact for the success of the completion of the transaction        

Let's assume that there is no statistically significant difference between the cases when an additional contact phone was provided and its absence. Let's put forward this statement as the main hypothesis. If the client has provided an additional contact number, then the connection will take place with approximately the same probability as in its absence. To test the hypothesis, a sample of more than two hundred randomly taken applications for six months was collected. Next, the selection is filtered from cases where:

• the connection did not take place due to the lack of technical capability;
• with incomplete data;
• currently in the works, as their outcome is still unclear.

         We will single out the presence of an additional contact phone as a significant factor, and as two possible outcomes we will indicate connection or failure. It is assumed that the negotiations were conducted correctly. Manager:

• informed all the terms of the contract;
• received explicit consent to connect;
• the client was satisfied with the installation, price and other agreed conditions;
• the date of the master's visit is agreed upon at a time convenient for the client;
• the transaction completion scenario has been read in accordance with the regulations.

         In case of non-call to the client from one of the numbers, there were calls at other times from other numbers, which minimizes the risk of inconvenient time or technical overlaps.

Let's group the applications:

• one contact number: 117 applications, of which 33 connections and 84 refusals;
• two contact numbers: 68 applications, including 24 connections and 44 refusals.

         The data is entered in a 2X2 four-field table. To analyze the data in a four-field table, three methods will be used: Chi-Square with and without the Yates correction, as well as the exact Fisher-Irwin method. Calculations will be performed in the Statistica 8 program. The methods are used to test the null hypothesis that two binary samples under study have been selected from the general population with the same frequency of occurrence of the studied effect ^{[5, c 170]}.

         The calculated values of the Pearson Chi-squared criterion, standard and adjusted by Yates, turned out to be 1.01 and 0.71, respectively, which is less than the critical value of the criterion 3.841. The critical value is taken from the reference literature ^{[7, p. 625]}. The Fisher-Irwin criterion is 0.1996. The remaining results obtained in Statistica 8 are shown in Figure 1:

         Based on all the calculation results for all three methods, it is necessary to accept the hypothesis that there is no influence of an additional contact phone on the fact of connection. As a percentage of 117 applications with one contact success, 33 transactions were completed, with two contact phones out of 68, 24 were successful, which corresponds to 28.21% and 41.18%.

         In total, 128 failures were detected in the sample for various reasons. The next step is to investigate the effects of an additional contact among individual classes of failures. We will divide them into nine main classes typical for sales of telecommunications services in the B2C sector ^[19]:

1.                  Changed your mind or is it no longer necessary;

2.                  Not satisfied with the installation;

3.                  Relatives are against the connection;

4.                  Client's refusal as a result of providing incorrect information;

5. Expensive;

6. Another provider offered more favorable terms;

7.                  Non-call to the client;

8. Without specifying the reason;

9.                  Other (everything that did not fall into other items).

         The distribution of failure cases by class is shown in table 1.

         We will single out three of all classes: "changed my mind", "non-call", "relatives against". The first one is chosen as the most common, the second — based on the initial assumption of influence, the third, because the second, additional number is given by the contact of a loved one. Attention is drawn to the fact that the difference in the percentage ratio between the presence of one and two contact phones in the "non-call" class is less than 2% (11.90% and 13.63%), and in the "changed my mind" class is almost twice (39.29% and 20.45%). For clarity, we present the data in the form of a separate figure (Fig. 2)

Study of the class of failures "changed my mind"         

Let's test the hypothesis about the absence of the influence of the fact of the second contact for the class "changed his mind". Let's compare the number of failures where there are one and two contact numbers with the sum of the remaining classes.

Let's group the data:

• one contact number: 84 refusals, 33 of them "changed my mind" and 51 other refusals;
• two contact numbers: 44 refusals, 9 of them "changed my mind" and 44 other refusals.

Calculated values produced in the Statistica 8 program (Fig. 4).

         The calculated value of the standard Pearson Chi-squared criterion turned out to be 4.64, which is greater than the critical value of the Pearson Chi-squared criterion 3.841. The value of the Yates-corrected criterion is 3.83, which is close to the critical one. The Fisher-Irwin criterion is 0.0235. Thus, the hypothesis about the absence of the influence of an additional contact phone on the fact of connection in the classroom with respect to the remaining failures is refuted, in favor of zero about the presence of influence.

         What explains the discrepancy in the "changed my mind" class? It is possible to make an assumption based on the fundamental principles of sales that the client "pays" not only with his money, but with time and information. In return, he wants to benefit for himself. In turn, as shown in the study by Cheremokhina D. A. and Chebotareva I. M., the concept of "benefit" itself is different for each client, and it is not always material, although it implies personal, material interests, some benefit, time savings in something "quick scheme", etc. ^[25]. There is a concept of "equation of values". In the book about the technology of SPIN sales, Neil Rekham, under the term "equation of values", implies the relationship between the size of the need and the price of the solution ^{[16, pp. 86-87]}. There is also an illustration in the form of scales. Based on the fact that by price we mean not only the monetary equivalent, but also time. and the information, then the value equation will look like a scale (Fig. 5).

         First, the client learns about the price, and it suits him in monetary terms (left scales). At the same time, in order to purchase the service, you need to spend more time communicating with the manager, terminating the contract with the previous company, waiting and the visit of the master or courier from the company itself. If the price and the offer are approximately equal in the client's mind, then a shaky and unstable balance is obtained, where there are many risks, most often negative for the manager. Formal consent has been received from the client, but there is a high probability of refusal (central scales). Additional contact information acts as a kind of surplus value. The client is ready to "pay" with it, so the balance is at least observed. Does not provide - it means that additional information has become the stone that lowered the scales more often not in favor of the manager (right scales). That is why there are a lot of refusals in the class "changed my mind". Thus, providing additional contact information, for example, the phone number of a close relative or acquaintance, is not so much a way of alternative communication with the client or his representative, but first of all a test for the truth of intentions to purchase goods or services and an intangible pledge.

Investigation of the class of failures "nedozvon"        

Similarly with the previous study, we will check the influence of the presence of an additional contact phone on the class "non-call". Calculated values produced in the Statistica 8 program (Fig. 5).

         The calculated value of the standard Pearson Chi-squared criterion turned out to be 0.08, which is less than the critical value of the Pearson Chi-squared criterion 3.841. The value of the criterion with the Yates correction is also close to zero. The Fisher-Irwin criterion is 0.4909. Based on all the calculation results for all three methods, it is necessary to accept the hypothesis that there is no influence of an additional contact phone on the fact of connection in the case when the representative of the company could not reach the client. The result of the check indirectly confirms the correctness of the conclusions of the "changed my mind" class study. If the client is interested in purchasing a service or product, he will make an effort to get through to him. And there is no particularly significant difference between one phone he provided or two.

A study of the class of refusals "relatives against" The discrepancies in the classes "changed my mind" and "relatives against" are striking (Fig. 3). Why is the share of refusals so high in the presence of an additional contact in the class "relatives against"?

Like consumer advertising, which is based on the mechanism of forming links between conditional and unconditional links, the task of a sales manager is to link the product being sold with a specific image that is attractive to a potential client. The relationship between modern marketing techniques and Ivan Petrovich Pavlov's research on the process of conditioned reflex learning (classical conditioning)^{[15, p. 236]}, and the operational conditioning proposed by Berres Frederick Skinner ^{[15, p. 249]}, was clearly shown in his book by David Statt ^[17] and Richard Webb in the article "Operative Conditioning in Marketing" ^[39]. The purchases of people in the services and consumer goods sector are most often pushed by momentary feelings and emotions. As psychologist Brian Tracy said in his book "The psychology of selling": "People make decisions emotionally, and then logically justify" ^{[27, p. 92]}. Therefore, researchers pay special attention to the emotional component in social interaction ^[32]. Other marketing, negotiation and agitation techniques are based on the same principle, described in detail in the research in the book "Psychology of Influence" by Robert Cialdini ^[24] and the scientific article "What does the client want to hear?"^[2]. Regarding the influence on decision-making within the family, David Statt pointed out four models of service choice found in family people ^{[17, p.182, 28]}. Or three, if the models with the decisive word of the husband or wife, combine into one point of the dominant model:

• dominant (making the decision for a specific person)
• autonomous (the number of solutions is approximately equal)
• joint decisions (decision-making through discussion)

         Each of the family members or people living together may have their own connections between images and emotions. As well as their roles, conventionally named as: a decision-maker, a user, an initiator, a buyer, a watchman and an authority, a person who has influence, but does not always use the service. Therefore, researchers in the field of social psychology focus on the role of a particular person in the family and the general model of making a decision about purchases ^[23].

         In this connection, the explanation suggests that the additional contact number just belonged to a relative or another representative of the client, with whom negotiations were not conducted. In such situations, he is the decision-maker (LPR), and his word was more significant for a potential client than the words of the manager. In turn, apparently, the manager did not specify how the decision is made in the family, and directed the presentation to the benefits only of the one with whom he talked, but not to the benefits of the one who makes the decision or has authority. The client himself, when he provided an additional contact, relieved himself of responsibility for the outcome of the transaction. Usually, such phrases are said about the transfer of the purchase decision to someone else: "our husband decides," "the son is younger, he understands all this better," "I'll talk to a friend, he's a technical specialist." Therefore, in the "relatives against" class, providing an additional contact number is not so much a test for the truth of making a decision, but an attempt by the client to absolve himself of responsibility. Such a step should be interpreted by the manager not as the completion of the transaction, but as the continuation of negotiations with another person, with the LPR. It is important to keep in mind, with a new round of negotiations, that a person's opinions and emotions are very changeable. As David Myers noted in the book "Social Psychology", what is obvious to the client today may not be so obvious yesterday ^{[10, p.145]}. Conversely, things that were obvious yesterday are being questioned today, including under the pressure and authority of another person. Another important point is the personal attitude to the brand. A potential client may have an affinity for a brand or company, which increases the likelihood of purchasing goods or services from this particular company, if only he decided ^[3]. And the LPR, on the contrary, has a negative attitude. In this scenario, most of them will be rejected. Therefore, cases of refusals in the "relatives against" class may overlap with the "other provider" class if the LPR is an adherent of another company.

         It is worth noting that, on the other hand, lonely elderly people who do not have the opportunity to hear critical opinions from their loved ones are more prone to irrational purchases ^[30]. The tendency to irrational purchases is used as one of the schemes by scammers ^[41]. Therefore, younger people, after they find out that their elderly relative has forwarded the manager to them, often automatically refuse managers without even entering into negotiations, which can be called a defensive reaction.

         The remaining failure classes may be variations of already disassembled classes. For example, the "other provider" class is similar to the "changed his mind" class, only with a more detailed reason for refusal. Or the class may not be directly related to additional contact information. For example, the provision of the service did not take place due to technical difficulties, installation or provision of initially incorrect information about the product and the terms of the contract.

Discussion of the results Thus, based on the results of the study, conclusions can be drawn:

• The presence of an additional contact phone number is not a statically significant reason for the client, if it is possible to call him back, although it increases the likelihood of successful completion of the transaction. When comparing groups with one and two contact phones, we get 28.21% and 41.18% of successfully closed transactions, respectively. At the same time, the distribution within the class of failures "non-call" is approximately equal: 11.90% and 13.64%
• Additional contact information is a kind of pledge or test for the truth of intentions to purchase goods or services. Since the benefit received after the purchase in the eyes of the client is greater than or equal to the cost of the service, the time required to receive the service and additional information provided by the client. Therefore, the percentage of refusals where the client did not provide an additional contact number is almost twice as high, 39.29% and 20.45%.
• Additional contact information may not be a direct confirmation of the client's desire to buy a service, product or product, but a reference to the decision-maker. Then it is not the closing of the transaction, but the transition to a new stage of negotiations, already with the decision-maker. The decision-maker more often initiates the rejection of the transaction, if the manager did not negotiate with him or the negotiations were formal, 2.38% and 11.36%.
• An in-depth study of the reasons for refusal should be carried out taking into account not only the psychological characteristics of the individual, but also his environment, social environment, and social conditions.

         The results are generally consistent with the general provisions adopted in social psychology and marketing. At the same time, they allow you to take a more detailed look at the reasons for customer failures. As noted in his article "Psychological schools and consumer models" Matyushkin, V. S., that despite the many different psychological schools and methods of studying personality psychology, marketing often goes "their own way" ^[11]. Therefore, in the future, it is interesting to analyze the classes of failures and options for the outcome of the transaction, using the approaches of different psychological schools. Their generalizing classification is given in the monograph of famous American researchers L. Hjell and D. Ziegler ^{[22, p. 40]} As well as various approaches to the study of personality psychology in Russia and abroad, starting from the works of Z. Freud, A. Adler, K.G. Jung and Russian scientists, including K. D. Ushinsky, L. S. Vygotsky, A. I. Leontiev ^[21]. It is also worth paying attention to the literature review on negative psychological states and behavior in the field of sales. Most of it is devoted to the work of managers, stress, psychological state in the team ^[33]. However, the negative attitude of a specialist can be transmitted to customers, which reduces the likelihood of a purchase. Each person, despite his individuality, is under the influence of society and acts in certain social conditions. "...personality traits are not reduced to its individual characteristics in any way. They include the general, the special, and the singular. The personality is the more significant, the more the universal is represented in it in individual refraction" ^[18].