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Is There Life After the Federal Do Not Call Law?As the new national Do Not Call Registry takes effect on October 1, 2003, Water Dealers, as well as other marketers, will need to make significant changes to their outbound marketing programs.We estimate that eventually there will be 60+ million names on the Federal Do Not Call Registry. This represents approximately 35% of the 210+ million available telephone #s. This list in much more comprehensive than the State Do Not Call lists which were limited to 27 states and had marginal sign-ups because of fees and lack of publicity. Additionally, the federal list closes some of the existing loopholes in the state laws, such as lack of interstate jurisdiction. Even though the Federal Do Not Call Registry takes effect on October 1st, there are still several remaining unanswered questions, including state pre-emption, the definition of pre-existing relationships, interstate vs. intrastate calling, handling independent offshore tele-centers, and the exempted industries, such as charities, political candidates, and insurance. While marketers are working out contingency plans, it is vital that each Water Dealer plan ahead now and assess his/her current marketing practices. First of all, Water Dealers who have had success with telephone marketing and appointment setting should continue to outreach. Ultimately, Dealers will find that the number of prospects available to them has dropped by about a third. That means that the remaining records become more important than ever before and need to be reached in a more professional manner with more robust offers. Telemarketing rooms will either become more efficient or they will close up. Each Dealer needs to examine their staff to insure that only the best marketers are working the phones. Scripts need to be tightened up and targeted at specific market groups. In the Water Treatment industry, key target groups include New Homeowners, Parents of New Babies, Homeowners with Children and Ailment Sufferers. Separate scripts must be developed for each category to insure that telemarketing investments will be well spent. Phone room managers will need to provide their staff with verbage designed to deal with consumers who may react negatively to receiving calls even after registering for the list. Consumers may not understand the distribution schedule of the DNC list or the types of calls allowed by exemption. List management will become vital as marketers strive to keep track of the Federal DNC list as well as in-house suppression files. Date prospect files when they are received to keep them current. Keep customer sale dates accurate to take advantage of established business relationship exemptions. Up-selling current customers will become more prevalent. Currently 2/3 of the $17 billion business-to-consumer outbound segment is targeted at consumers with a prior relationship with a marketer. Nearly all of this telemarketing would be allowed under the new rules. Marketers need to take advantage of enhancements that can be made to their list, including adding age, income, homeownership, presence of children and other data to their current files so they can take advantage of cross-selling options. Over the next year, an estimated $6 billion dollars is likely to move from telemarketing to other channels such as direct mail, traditional, and online media. Most funds will move to direct mail. Water Dealers will need to consider using targeted postcards to reach new prospects. Consider a postcard directed to Homeowners with Children, referencing the EPA report about lead-tainted tap water and how water filtration can reduce the risk of childhood lead poisoning. Or, utilize statistics outlining the potentially harmful contaminants or chemicals in a given market. A meaningful offer will become more important. Think about using premiums and add-ons. Use unique shapes to enhance response. Test your lists, creative and offer to find the one that works best. Significant dollars will funnel towards interactive media. Each Dealer needs to invest in a website and work towards enhancing their search rankings. While e-mail marketing may look like a great idea, despite concerns with spam, unfortunately the independent or franchise Water Dealer might not be able to take advantage of e-mail marketing because of availability in the local market, cost and industry minimums. There is no question that the fourth quarter of this year will be a real learning experience for marketers, suppliers and consumers as we rethink, relearn and refine a responsive marketing mix. For more information about compliance to the FTC Telemarketing Sales Rules, visit www.the-dma.org/guidelines/tsr.pdf. Back to Home |
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