Telemarketing Call Centers – Developing Opportunities Irrespective of Legislative Difficulties

Telemarketing call centers are dealing with a grave challenge that has gained impetus in the last few years – legislation restricting sales calls. Regulation of telesales services has the votes of the general public and is also supported by both parties. While this puts some pressure on telesales, it is also an opportunity for quality service providers to prove their worth by offering value to businesses and consumers.

Telemarketing regulations – a mutating challenge

The difficulty of following new restrictive regulations is further complicated by the persistent changes made to them. Old laws are regularly modified and new laws passed that frequently have overlapping jurisdictions. Telemarketing services have the difficult job of keeping up with the legislative environment.

Following are some of the rules a telesales and lead generation companies must abide by to avoid getting penalized are:

• Curfews: You are not allowed to call consumers all day. There is a certain time range within which sales calls are allowed.
• Do-Not-Call lists: People who have registered on Do-Not-Call lists cannot be called. Telemarketers are supposed to make this check before picking the phone. Such customers can be called under certain exceptions only. Do-Not-Call registries are managed at state and national levels.
• Licensing requirement: Some states require vendors to acquire a license to operate. Some states also expect the company to be bonded. These requirements impose additional paperwork and extra fees.
• Mandating caller ID transmission: Consumers can use call screening to divert sales calls to voice mail or decide not to receive them at all.
• Content restrictions: Laws also regulate what can be sold on the phone and even the way one can market. This is very limiting for sales representatives and sets additional vigilance.

Effective telemarketing – merging compliance and sales

Regardless of the many restrictions, telesales can still be a part of a business’ marketing mix. Companies can maintain their phone-sales initiatives by following these strategies:

• Optimizing on existing customer relationships: Law allows calling customers who already have a relationship with the company, regardless of her registration with the Do-Not-Call list. Cross selling to such customers helps the company keep doors open for future sales. To initiate a relationship with a new customer, loss leaders or selling low cost products during the first contact is a good tactic to extend the client base and enhance the possibility of generating more rewarding sales at a later date.
• Supporting telemarketing with other marketing strategies: Organizations frequently employ multiple marketing strategies to promote products and offers. Marketing collateral such as direct mails, emails, and newsletters also work well to introduce customers to call center numbers and to secure their permission to call them.
• Getting permission to call: Laws also exempt cases where customers on Do-Not-Call registration list agree to accept calls. Organizations can get customer’s consent via affinity programs, contests or special offers.
• Being professional: The reason why telemarketing is regulated so strictly today is because of the indiscriminate cold calling used by unethical call centers in the past. The calls came close to customer badgering and telesales faced a lot of flak for it. Quality telesales vendors maintain lofty standards by respecting customer’s time and willingness to receive a call.

New regulations, though restrictive, have raised the bar for telemarketing services. With the weeding out of unethical call centers, quality services can distinguish themselves with their services and strategies to secure customer buy-in.