Many businesses that depend on marketing calls to contact clientele have a pretty bad reputation among the general public, but: contrary to popular belief: this isn’t simply because they contact people at random. It’s because many go about their telephone marketing without conducting due diligence first. The result? Unwittingly engaging in bad practices that irritate and upset potential customers.
If you own a business and rely on telephone marketing, TPS checks, data enhancement and cleansing are essential. In this blog post we’ll explain why.
Nuisance Calls
Last year, the Guardian reported that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) received over 170,000 complaints in 2015 from people who had received nuisance calls and texts. Andy Curry, ICO enforcement manager, also revealed that they had issued over ??1m worth of fines and penalties to companies who had breached data protection laws. This figure is over three times the amount charged to cold calling companies in 2014: demonstrating the ICO’s eagerness to crack down on the process of so called ‘rogue contacting’ in the UK.
Curry said, “The law is clear around what is allowed and we will fine companies who don’t follow the law”.
Legal Requirements
Curry’s words should serve as a warning to companies who flaunt data protection laws. Many businesses find themselves in trouble for calling numbers registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). It is a legal requirement that companies do not make calls to numbers listed on the TPS unless they have consent to do so. If you own a business and conduct marketing calls, it is your duty to ensure that your prospect and customer databases are up to date.
Don’t Risk Fines
Unwittingly cold calling prohibited numbers will not only anger the person on the other end of the line, it may also lead to hefty fines, bad press, a poor reputation, and have knock-on effects for your business in the future. Ignorance is not an excuse.
Remember: Bad practices and old/bad data waste valuable time and put your company at risk of prosecution. Don’t risk fines: get the most up-to-date data available from a provider you can trust.
Selectabase Can Help
At Selectabase, we know that the best way to remain on the right side of the law is by keeping all customer contact data updated. That’s why we offer a variety of data enhancement and cleansing services including TPS checks, email and landline verification processes: to detect and highlight ‘dead’ accounts and numbers: and tailored data enhancement services.
Get in touch today
Why not get in touch today and see how we can help your business make the most of 2016? Call 01304-382211 or complete a short contact form online and one of our friendly advisors will be in touch soon.