Will all 60 million phone numbers the FTC and FCC expect to register on the new federal do-not-call list be lost to marketers? There are two answers, and both of them are no.
First, these numbers won’t be lost if the customer has made a purchase within the last 18 months, or an inquiry within the last three. Before the registry goes into effect on Oct. 1, marketers not only can renew contact with customers whose most recent purchases were more than 18 months ago, they should focus on doing so.
These contact efforts should include a request for suggestions that would improve the relationship. Customers who have had problems successfully resolved are even more valuable to an organization than those who never have had a complaint.
Once customers have offered their 2 cents, the marketer can go after the dollars by requesting permission to call the customer with special offers and information. Finally, the caller would suggest current merchandise the customer may like.
Even if these efforts manage only to cover the program’s costs, marketers will still benefit by building a file of customers who have given permission to be contacted by telephone.
Second, the numbers won’t be lost if companies step up their use of cooperative telemarketing. True, marketers won’t be allowed to sell, rent or lease their customer file. They will, however, be able to make calls on another firm’s behalf.
Imagine a video rental chain that has several million members who have rented at least one movie within the last 18 months. Like most companies in its industry, it has relied on mass advertising or the occasional mail piece, and hasn’t done a lot of outbound telemarketing.
In comes a major credit card issuer, which offers to underwrite an outbound phone campaign, ostensibly to generate a few incremental rentals. At the end of the call, the rep offers a credit card, which would be branded with the video chain’s logo and carry special benefits.
According to Tim Searcy, executive director of the American Teleservices Association, the organization’s in-house counsel feels there is nothing in the regulations that would prevent this from a legal perspective.
But there are a number of caveats. As Searcy notes, “From a practical perspective, if the established business relationship is abused, it is likely that customers will elect to have themselves taken off in-house databases as well.”
He continues, “The likelihood is that companies that look at long-term value will be very careful who they partner with and for what products, so they don’t alienate their customers.”
Companies that have done telesales will already have an idea as to how many solicitations of any stripe their customers can weather before reacting negatively. Those that haven’t, but choose to do so on behalf of partners, will need to research what that point is for their file — and establish a tracking system to avoid fatiguing the list.
Additionally, because any partner offer would reflect the goodwill of the company that owns the customer list, it would be incumbent upon the company to negotiate the best possible deal for its customers, much in the way the stampsheet-sold magazine marketers demanded the lowest available rates for their solicitations.
Come Oct. 1, telemarketing faces limits. It doesn’t have to face extinction.
RICHARD H. LEVEY ([email protected]) is a senior writer for Direct. His Loose Cannon column appears every Monday on Direct Newsline (www.directmag.com).
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