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The power of technology in business selling: call centers

Paul R. Prabhaker (Professor of Marketing at the Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA)
Michael J. Sheehan (Director of Call Center Solutions. AT&T, Naperville, USA)
John I. Coppett (Professor of Marketing at the University of Houston, Texas, USA)

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

ISSN: 0885-8624

Article publication date: 1 June 1997

33310

Abstract

Changes in market conditions and trends often point to the need for changes in the marketing approaches being used. Current market trends such as fierce competition and increasingly demanding customers bring into glaring focus the shortcomings of marketing approaches and vehicles developed in and for earlier times. Corporations are being forced to re‐examine and redefine their marketplace. The need for innovative ways of reaching the customers has never been greater. Such changes call for the development and use of newer sales and marketing tools. Call centers belong to a new breed of potent technology‐driven business tools that evolved in direct response to the changes in today’s business environment. Being rooted in a technological foundation, call centers have superior attributes. They offer more flexibility and simultaneously lower the costs of meeting customer needs. They bring businesses much closer to their customers by establishing a two‐way interactive link with the marketplace. Compared to traditional marketing approaches call centers are designed and developed for the contemporary business environment. They are an ideal tool for today’s rapidly changing global markets.

Keywords

Citation

Prabhaker, P.R., Sheehan, M.J. and Coppett, J.I. (1997), "The power of technology in business selling: call centers", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 12 No. 3/4, pp. 222-235. https://doi.org/10.1108/08858629710188054

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 1997, MCB UP Limited

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