Telemarketing is an effective tool in the arsenal of marketing mix providing sellers with many benefits including a lower cost of sales. While telemarketing has been proven as a welcomed marketing method among small business, consumers have been less accepting.
Time magazine has ranked telemarketing as one of the worst ideas of the 20th century. The consistent calling on consumers ended in a backlash resulting in the opening of the U.S. National Do Not Call list as of June 27th, 2003.
What is The National Do Not Call List?
The National Do Not Call list allows consumers who don't want to receive telephone solicitations at home to register their phone number in a federal database forbidding businesses to make unsolicited calls to them. Do Not Call lists provided at the several states also complements the federal program.
Businesses need to reference the directory prior to telemarketing to consumers. Accessing data for up to five area codes is free. Violators of the Do Not Call list regulations can be subject to fines of up to $11,000 per violation.
What is Included in the Do Not Call List?
The National Do Not Call list covers all plans and campaigns to sell products or services by interstate calls including telemarketers or even subcontractors hired by companies. Does this plan cover existing customers?
The government's Do Not Call website indicates, "A telemarketer or seller may call a consumer whom it has an established business relation for up to 18 months after the consumer's last purchase, delivery, or payment- even if the consumer's number is on the Do Not Call Registry. In addition, a company may call a consumer for up to three months after the consumer makes an inquiry or submits an application to the company."
Consumers still have the right to request you don't call them even if they aren't on a Do Not Call list. The real issue for small business is the restrictions on prospecting for new business by telephone.
Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Marketing Basket
Small businesses need to carefully examine where the majority of business comes from and look to alternatives to diversify their marketing. The Do Not Call list has had a big impact on many industries, especially realtors.
An entire industry has had to quickly shift their entire marketing plans. According to California Association of Realtors Survey published in Builder Online, "Seventy percent of real estate agents responding to the telephone poll said they used the World Wide Web to promote their business in some fashion, up from just 10 percent in the 2003 survey conducted by the California Association of Realtors."
The Do Not Call registry should be a wake up call to all businesses to diversify their marketing channels. It's also an opportunity to re-examine the marketing and advertising models to see what consumers desire and what works. We clearly are ushering in a new era of marketing.
