Nice idea, but no cigar

It has happened, and good thing too. I can now put my name on a database, which means I can never get cold-called again from second-rate companies. Companies looking to squander my time, selling me stuff I don’t need; from widgets, beans, courier services, to nice advertising space in a glossy, well-targeted and extraordinary well-placed monthly trade magazine! Look Mr Telesales Guy, I’ve got a business to run, and your calls are wasting my time.

I am now safe. My personal space cannot be rudely violated. I am at one with my soul. I am safe to pick up my phone and only expect a familiar, possibly family, voice. Never again will I feel awkward at my desk, trying to rid myself of the ‘Tele-caller with no Name’.

But hang on a minute, I’ve just remembered something, a couple of months ago I bought some really cheap business insurance on the back of a telesales call. In fact I saved some good cash from it. Money I then spent on an evening out with a loyal advertiser. Okay, I had already had about five calls from property agents, (why did I fill in my details in that website?), a couple of printers and a bloke selling Viagra, but did that really take up that much of time? How much time would I have spent searching for that insurance?

So, let’s work this out, let’s get real. I hate getting a million calls from telesales property agents, as I am happy in my Pimlico office. I am overwhelmed with my printers, and I am not yet in the market for Viagra… but, I was interested in that business insurance. It was worth the seven malignant telesales calls, to get that one call! So maybe I’ll remove my name from the CTPS.

I am now confused.

What I am driving at is we need information, and we need it from any source we can… I mean, we are in the new information age aren’t we? Telesales is a legitimate form of supplying and gathering information, and if done well, can really benefit all parties. The CTPS however has set a new precedent. Get hacked off with a couple of dodgy telesales calls, and you can knee-jerk into suppressing your name against all databases in the world! Smart move, or not? Well, I’d say not.

Why suppress an individual’s name, why can’t an individual personally suppress calls from, what he/she considers, a nuisance company? It is the untargeted, spam-style, telesales companies/campaigns that gives the tools a bad name, and puts customers off purchasing over the phone. The worst being the cowboy firms in the B2C market. However, suppressing companies against people is obviously much harder work for the CTPS.

In three months since CTPS’s launch 150,000 numbers will have been signed up. At this rate, half the market will be completely suppressed in a few years. This, in theory, will mean that a huge part of the economy will never receive another telesales call again. What will be the outcome?

Without telesales we will find it much harder to run market research, or inform new customers of our products. And those customers will be none the wiser of them. Free and easily accessible information has grown our economies exponentially over the years. What the CTPS will do is squeeze the brakes a little on this – telesales really is the best method of getting your unique message across, for a straight sell.

More perversely, entire organisations can add themselves as a whole on the CTPS list. Think of that over zealous HR director suppressing his entire 1000 strong workforce and embarking on a zero-tolerance stance to telemarketing.

Obviously, the CTPS is not evil, and joining the list is not compulsory. Bottom line, it is up to the individual whether they submit their details for suppression or not. But is the CTPS really doing that person a favour? Has it really gone out-on-a-limb to help people at work, by basically excommunicating them from the world by phone? Does the CTPS really think that the “Smash-and-grab” firms are going to pay any attention to the CTPS list? In other words, registered customers are not safe. The hardcore cowboy sales companies will still call anybody they wish, and the responsible firms will be the only ones to comply. Meaning, we sell less, the customers are not informed on new products and services they might need, but they are still harassed.

My view is ‘Best laid plans…’. Nice idea, but no cigar. Anyway, I’m glad I got that off of my chest. And I might be calling you soon, with a new product, though if you are on the CTPS I guess you will have to make sure you read all of your direct mail… well, until that is banned too.

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