New Rules for the Telemarketing UK Industry
In the past few years, we saw a significant boom in the telemarketing
UK industry. From the multi-million dollar corporations to small
businesses, and even to political campaigns, telemarketing is
used by people all over the UK. However, certain telemarketing
UK industry rules were recently passed which to some extent
makes this year, 2006, a tougher year for telemarketers. The
new rules I’m talking about is the sudden rise in Telephone
Preference Service (TPS) registrations.
According to some reports, the diagnosis for the telemarketing
UK industry is critical as TPS registrations recently passed
the 10 million mark. The registration was passed for the people
to be able to avoid receiving cold calls or those unsolicited
telemarketing UK calls by registering their phone numbers on
a statutory list that bars the calls.
However, this new rule has caused some consternation in the
telemarketing UK industry. It has been reported that the TPS
registration made a significant impact on the telemarketing
UK industry and UK business, perhaps for the reason that many
telemarketing UK companies rely on cold calling as a primary
means of winning new customers, and if that route is no longer
available because of the TPS registrations their business will
suffer, and therefor, so does the telemarketing UK industry.
Despite all those cries, several reports and surveys have made
it clear that the future of the cold call is really under attack.
First, the new and stronger regulation is allowing the consumers
to avoid those unwanted telemarketing UK calls. At present,
the TPS registration has attracted 5.25 million members, which
is equivalent to 24 percent of the UK population. It is further
interesting to know that this summer, the TPS was extended to
allow business numbers to be registered. Several industry specific
regulations are even starting to emerge. One of those is the
Financial Services Authority’s ban on the cold selling of mortgage
products, which according to some reports will be introduced
in October 2006.
Another support for the claim that the telemarketing UK industry’s
cold calling is currently under attack is the fact that most
people in UK these days are using technology to control those
unwanted telemarketing UK calls. To put it simply, the consumers
today are using answer calls to vet calls and avoid those they
don’t want. Finally, many telemarketing UK consumers are simply
refusing products that are marketed through telephones. This
is what led the telemarketing UK industry further into their
decline.
Because of those facts, the telemarketing UK industry is now
calling the businesses to take action as early as possible.
Experts said that companies should start planning for a future
which they may not be able to attract new customers by phone.
They should start on counting the cost of bad practice, which
is one of the major factors that trigger the passage of the
TPS registrations. Also, the telemarketing UK companies must
adopt best practices in all telemarketing activities to stave
off further legislation, as well as to lessen customer frustration.
There are also some who recommend minimizing the telemarketing
UK companies’ dependency on cold calling, and win customer trust
by treating them with respect and consideration.
Today, although the telemarketing UK industry somehow felt a
sort of despair over TPS, the newly passed legislation should
be seen as just the latest development in the information privacy
not only in UK, but in Europe as well.
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