The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) held the first meeting of its âCTPS hubâ on June 8, aimed at helping its members deal with ongoing and emerging issues related to the introduction of the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) a year ago (see page 17).
John Price, chair of the DMA’s Customer Contact Centre Council, explains that the hub was developed to respond to concerns over the impact of the CTPS â which enables incorporated companies to bar inbound telemarketing calls â and assist them in mitigating them. âThe hub brings together all interested parties â some are telemarketers, some are list rental companies. There is a wider scope of interest than traditional telemarketing companies. We want to understand different people’s agendas.â
He says it is particularly important for the list rental community to consider the CTPS when selling telemarketing data, as pre-suppressed lists do not provide a full picture of the potential market audience available and thereby can undermine campaign analysis.
Once views have been gathered, the hub will begin to devise strategies to help DMA members tackle CTPS repercussions.
Meanwhile, Price is adamant that just because a number is registered with the CTPS, it does not mean that a specific individual cannot be telemarketed, and encourages companies to be âcreativeâ in how they use telemarketing, within the boundaries of the law.
