I’m a fan of NBC’s The Office, which in addition to its entertainment value, also does a good job of highlighting some of our industry’s more compelling aspects.

That said, I’ve recently been getting bombarded by XM satellite radio, as my subscription for my car ran out and they’ve been trying to resign me. In a perfect example of a telemarketer crossing their boundaries, XM managed to acquire my parent’s home phone number via the dealerships database (My father and I both own the same brand car, which the dealership has on file). As a result, they’ve begun also directing their efforts at my folks, much to the dismay of my mother.

With the next wave of mobile, SMS text, and other forms of telemarketing making their way into corporate practices, it will be critical that marketers understand the boundaries associated with these mediums. Simply pushing offers to customer can be intrusive and disastrous. Understanding the “when” and “who” will be crucial in creating valid up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.

As this clip from The Office with Jim shows:

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