While I believe markets work, I just don’t understand how they work in telemarketing. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Tim Muris has his doubts as well. He wants to create FTC do-not-call and do-not-call at certain times lists, instead of leaving this to the states and the Direct Marketing Association. He believes telemarketing has become so intrusive that it is now harmful. Think about it. We have a conservative Republican — who doesn’t believe in regulation — regulating a form of salesmanship. What is going on?
Consumer research I find trustworthy says 93 percent of the American public agrees with Tim Muris that telemarketing is always intrusive. I know I do. I hate calls at dinner, calls when I am writing, sales calls claiming to be research, calls that are dead air, and calls where the salesperson won’t take no as an answer. Nonetheless, I have been trained to look at facts and behavior rather than attitude and opinions. Better than $600 billion in goods and services are sold using telemarketing. Reputable companies with a low tolerance for reputational risk telemarket. If markets work, which I believe they do, and 93 percent of Americans truly believe telemarketing is always repugnant, then what explains the tremendous volume? Something is definitely wrong with this equation.
Friends, it is time to look for fixes that help markets work:
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First, predictive dialers must be set at level that leads to near zero abandonment rates. If the collections industry can make this work, so can we. The DMA’s telephone preference service opt-out rates accelerated with the adoption of predictive dialers. Maybe it is time to let the law establish abandonment rates.
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Second, we must train our sales team to hang up when asked. As the economy has slowed, the telemarketing sales people I’ve spoken with have become ruder.
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Third, it is time for the industry to get wise to caller ID. If you want to talk to me, then let your phone be identified by me.
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Last but not least, we need an industry initiative to make phone preference services work. Service bureaus have 20 different state do-not-call formats and eight more on the horizon. The DMA file is dirty and there are technical issues with matching phone numbers, since area codes change and phone numbers are re-assigned. An FTC file won’t restore order; it will exacerbate the current situation. It is time for a summit to solve the preference puzzle.
I believe in commercial free speech. I believe in the freedom of businesses to advertise their products. I believe in using the right medium to sell the right product to the right customer; and sometimes that is the phone. However, the industry’s use of this tool has put commercial free speech in jeopardy. We are in trouble when a conservative, market driven official reaches the conclusion that lawful, non-deceptive communication is a harm we must regulate. No more talk — action.
