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Can Someone Explain - Free Subscription Tactic

SolidGrndSolidGrnd subscriber Posts: 11
edited August 2006 in Marketing
I am very confused! I currently work (my day job) for an engineering firm and I have seen this in other industries as well...magazines will send free subscriptions...but in order to continue to receive your free subscription you have to provide them with 10 minutes of your time on the phone and a ton of information. If it is free...why can`t they just send the simple thing!? And what is the poitn behind this tactic...what is the magazine publisher getting out of this!? Obviously there is TONs of advertising in the magazines...but there has to be some serious overhead issues with employing all these cust. service people to continually call the "free subscribers" to update and renew!
Can anyone explain this for me!?
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    SolidGrndSolidGrnd subscriber Posts: 11
    Is it really necessary to do this every six months or less! It seems to me...if you have a subscription for someone in an office...the most you would need to do is verify that that person still works there and still has the same title! If it changes THEN you would move on to the other questions! I must answer these calls at 5 a day...and they really waste my time! I have gotten to the point where I simply tell them I and the engineers are not interested! They seem to be hurting their cause more than promoting.
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    admanadman subscriber Posts: 3
    You know, I hear this about alot of tactics in many industries and the bottom line is this.  Someone at that company has done an analysis that they are making more money employing this tactic than it is costing them to do it.  It`s basic ROI analysis.  If the company is continuing to be profitable then it`s working.
    This also brings me to another point.  There is NO SUCH THING as FREE.  (Said the man with the free advice website) It may not cost you cash out of pocket, but you are exchanging your time and information to recieve this publication.
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