Despite the popularity of state and
national do-not-call lists, quality tele-services providers are thriving.
“The telephone is an essential tool for
lead generation, customer service, customer care, sales and fund-raising,” says
Carl Albright, president and CEO of
InfoCision Management Corp. “It is the
most effective mode of contact for nearly
all industries, both for- and not-for-profit.”
Smart Business talked to Albright about
the impact of do-not-call lists, the range of
services that teleservices vendors provide
and how these companies maintain their
high standards and quality reputation.
How have various do-not-call lists affected
the telemarketing industry?
Although the federal government established the National Do Not Call Registry in
2003, many teleservices companies, including ours, have always maintained client-specific do-not-call lists. However, to be
compliant with the new laws, companies
must invest significantly in call center technology upgrades.
The law prohibits companies from making cold prospecting calls to those households that are on a registry. The exception
to this rule pertains to households with
which a company has an established business relationship. In other words, federal
law states that if a consumer has purchased a product from the company in the
past 18 months, a teleservices provider is
permitted to call him or her.
With respect to do-not-call legislation, why
is it important to maintain a relationship with
a high-quality telemarketing company?
Unfortunately, some teleservices companies don’t invest in the technology or expert
staff necessary to uphold the laws.
Additionally, those companies with overseas
operations can’t closely monitor their call
centers, which may also result in a violation.
On the other hand, a reputable company
can be trusted to protect clients from a
costly do-not-call violation. The fines are as
high as $11,000 per attempt, for both the
company and teleservices vendor, and the only way to avoid paying it is to be legally
indemnified by a client. With a high-quality
company, a client gets peace of mind.
What types of teleservices are unaffected by
do-not-call legislation?
Ninety-five percent of all teleservices business is in commercial sales or marketing, and
all inbound customer service calls are
exempt from do-not-call legislation. Many
companies rely on teleservices vendors to
provide customer care services. For example, a television cable company might need a
call center partner to answer customer questions about billing or schedule service calls.
Also, all of the nation’s largest and most
recognized nonprofit organizations depend
on teleservices providers to raise money
for them over the telephone, and these
calls are exempt from the do-not-call laws.
In fact, our company raises more money
over the phone for nonprofits than any
other teleservices provider.
A variety of different nonprofit telephone
fundraising strategies have proven to be
extremely cost-effective for the organizations. Just one of these strategies is a volunteer recruitment campaign, in which
donors are encouraged to volunteer their
time to write letters to their neighbors, friends and family, who in turn send donations back to the nonprofit organizations.
Is any job too big or small for a reputable
teleservices provider?
In many cases, a quality teleservices company will decide whether or not to partner
with a large client based on staffing. While
less reputable firms will just hire anyone to
handle the extra work, other companies
such as ours have different business models. In this case, there may be an adjustment period in which the call center company recruits, hires and trains the mature
professionals necessary to have a successful teleservices program.
For example, last year our company
made or took nearly 40 million telephone
calls. Each individual program should consist of at least 5,000 phone calls, and our
biggest accounts can consist of more than
1 million calls.
When it comes to very small accounts,
we unfortunately must pass because the
setup costs are so enormous. Three out of
four jobs are too small for a company like
ours, so we refer them to another teleser-vices vendor.
How does a high-quality teleservices
provider balance scripting with the personality of its agents?
A truly sophisticated teleservices company
will make sure every call is scripted in a way
that is both conversational and professional.
This ensures that communicators seamlessly
represent the clients’ brand while still allowing them to interject relevant facts and add a
personal touch to the conversation.
Most importantly, consistent monitoring
and coaching are essential to balancing
scripting and personality. Some less reputable companies might have a communicator-to-supervisor ratio of 30 to one. Others,
such as ours, have ratios as low as eight to
one, because they realize the importance of
ongoing training and mentoring.
CARL ALBRIGHT is president and CEO of InfoCision
Management Corp. Reach him at [email protected] or (330)
668-1400.