Telemarketing Compliance Challenges in 2013
The FTC Telemarketing rules that are designed to protect consumers from frequent fraudulent telemarketing calls have created more challenges for companies whose marketing strategy depends proactively reaching out to customers and prospective clients. Companies should familiarize themselves with the laws, rules and guidelines before planning any telemarketing strategy. A complete overview of these rules are available on the Bureau of Consumer Protection website at www.business.ftc.gov.
Many of the guidelines that you will incorporate into your marketing plan will depend upon the type of business your company is engaged. For example, there are different rules for list brokers, mail order or telephone order merchandise, debt relief services, mortgage assistance relief services, soliciting money on behalf of a charity, calls that include a telephone survey and a sales presentation, calls made during specific times and days of the week, holidays or during times of a natural disaster.
The potential liability of a company is that if it does not comply with FTC rules and guidelines, it may be subject to a fine of up to $16,000 per violation. In order to avoid such penalties, companies must create and maintain a business practice that meets the requirements of these rules and guidelines. Even if a company makes an unexpected mistake, it may not be subject to a fine if it has good business practices and can show that it made every effort to comply. If, in the event that a call is mistakenly made to a consumer that is on the Do Not Call list, a telemarketing firm may not be liable for a fine if it can show that it does maintain a routine business practice to meet all requirements. To meet this requirement, a telemarketer must demonstrate that it has a written procedure to comply with the do not call requirements, it trains its personnel in those procedures, it monitors and enforces compliance with these procedures, it maintains a company specific list of telephone numbers that it may not call, it accesses the national registry no more than 31 days (starting with January 1, 2005) before calling any consumer (and maintains records documenting this process) and any call made in violation of the do not call rules was the result of an error.
In order to comply with FTC rules, a company will need to utilized software that best enables its ability to comply with ever changing rules. Calling land lines and mobile phones has become a challenge for many companies. One of the issues facing companies related to time of day calling is to determine which time zone a mobile phone is originated. For example, if the dialing software believes a mobile phone originates in California (Pacific Time Zone) when it in fact originates in Eastern Time zone, a company may be in violation of FTC rules if the company calls at 8PM PCT. This is just one example of how technology assists companies comply with FTC rules. Many consumers now are using only mobile devices (not land lands) so this is an important change in how companies reach out to consumers. In 2013, there are a number of vendors that have products that assist companies comply with FTC rules regarding Do Not Call. Some of them are Aspect, Oracle, Vocalcom, Cisco, Avaya, Enghouse, and Genesis.
Gregg Troyanowski is president of Promero, Inc. Founded in 2001, Promero is a leading customer care/call center software expert. Promero provides valuable insight when selecting a technology platform for its customer contact center. Promero supports companies of any size or industry. It addresses strategic, operational and technological issues always with the focus of providing a solution that is right for the client’s business. Promero’s client list includes companies on Fortune’s Most Admired Companies list.
Promero is an authorized managed service/application hosting provider and reseller of the world’s leading best in class solutions. If your business is considering an application enhancement, replacement or in need of technical support, please contact Promero for a free, no obligation consultation. www.promero.com