Author:  Jim Mitchell

The Australian Parliament recently passed legislation to create a National Do Not Call (DNC) Register, and expects it to start in early 2007.  Canada also anticipates its DNC Register will be operational in 2007 while businesses in other countries, such as the United States, have been complying with DNC laws for years.  For the contact center industry, abiding by this legislation is not a “nice to do” – it is a “must do.”  If your company doesn’t, you could encounter serious repercussions including fines and, in some countries, court proceedings.

This may sound ominous, but in actuality, DNC legislation in the U.S. has not been as completely negative as originally expected. The size of call lists has decreased by 30% to 50%, but those were the people that most likely would have hung up when they realized a telemarketer was on the phone. The laws have forced companies to constantly fine-tune their calling lists and have resulted in more contacts to the right people.  So, while the number of prospects talked to has decreased, the sales per contact has increased. Many of our customers have told me that they are now spending more time talking to consumers who are interested in the products and services they are offering, and they are realizing increased sales due to more higher-quality interactions. Despite this, the overall revenue for telemarketers has decreased. As a result, a lot of centers have expanded their business to include surveys, renewals, etc., where there is a pre-existing business relationship.

How can your contact center comply with DNC regulations and still achieve, or even exceed, revenue goals?  Here are some ideas:

• Maximize inbound contacts. When customers call you, use the opportunity to up-sell or cross-sell another product or service that you know would be of interest to them.
• Personalize interactions. Observe customer behavior and buying patterns and tailor campaigns to fit their needs or interests.  (Analytics can really assist with these activities.)
• Elevate the service you deliver. Replace cold calls with proactive customer service calls, such as welcome or introductory calls, to your customers once there is an established business relationship. 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 at 9:19 am and is filed under Compliance/Regulatory, Contact Center Technology, Dialers, Sales and Telemarketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.