We get asked this a lot – and now may be the time to take a serious look at your traditional outgoing phone solicitation model, and confront that nagging question: "There must be some way NOT to follow the Do Not Call Laws, right?"
Watch: How do I get around the Do-Not-Call Laws?
This video is for informational purposes. Be sure to consult your own attorney for questions specific to your business.
We’ve known for a long time that the Do Not Call laws are becoming more restrictive.
As telemarketers, sometimes we’ve only been able to reach out to 20 or 25 percent of the folks we’d like to. Traditionally, we could say we didn’t know, we weren’t sure we could call, we thought the Do Not Call list was only for big companies, or, “the Do Not Call list doesn’t apply if I only make a couple of cold calls right?”
But when is the pain and potential punishment for running afoul of these DNC laws too much, especially now that consumers are so sensitive to cell phone solicitations? It’s like we’ve violated their window to the world!
So what else is out there to reach consumers and businesses?
Well let’s see; we’ve got texting, mailing, landlines, pre-recorded or robocalls, caller ID calls, direct-to-voicemail calls, free-to-end-user texting – or we can create an inbound environment by attracting potential partners over the web, rather than reaching out.
Let’s take a look at each of these options and see how useful they are for avoiding the Do Not Call laws:
1. Texting: Not so much
Unfortunately, a text is considered a call. And seeing as how you can ONLY text to cell phones, a cell phone call it is. Not good. Companies generally are too scared to use texting as some of the largest direct-to-consumer companies have had bad luck with it – to the tune of court cases and millions in fines.
Text does offer A LOT of cutting edge applications, however, like communicating with attendees at trade shows, internal company communications, and much more, as my friend Andrea Busse at IntelaText would be happy to tell you about. Just tell her Bob Traylor sent you. (She is, in fact, one of the top experts on compliant text uses in the world).
2. Mailing: Not unless you’re a pro
Unless you’re a catalog house or know EXACTLY what you’re doing and have been doing it for the last 40 years, mailing is a tough road. I’m sure many companies are mailing because they can’t for the life of them figure out anything else to do in this over-regulated consumer outreach environment. But, ask yourself, “Are these doodads I’m mailing out, which are so easy to throw away, so expensive to produce and mail, and so familiar to the average recipient as to be invisible, really worth it?”
3. Landlines: Is anyone paying attention anymore?
Yes landlines are still around. The problem with landlines, however, is if you call them to get a hold of folks, it may be some business line the consumer gave as a reference.
“Hey is Sallie there?”
“Who is it?”
“Someone looking for money.”
“No she’s not here.”
Sure, you can call landlines, but if you really want to get through to folks, landlines can’t be compared to cell phones, which people are attached to like their personal windows to the world.
4. Robocalls to Cell Phones: No
Cell phone owners have been beaten down because of the years of abuse. Essentially, technology outstripped the laws, and the laws had to be tightened up and changed before (and sometimes after) consumers lost their mind. Still today we have companies apparently setting out to make sure cell owners end up in the loony bin. Where the rogue debt collectors and law firms filing thousands of suits as collectors, credit card scams, and free vacations come from is beyond me.
5. Caller ID calls: Can you hang up fast enough?
Are you fast enough to leave a caller ID without the phone ringing? The problem with cell phones is there is a slight delay, and that phone will probably ring once and piss people off because they can’t get to it in time. This sounds like a great idea for companies that, “never leave a message because we don’t want to leave a ‘footprint’ that might get us in trouble.” But it’s a great way to create complaints, the smoking gun for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
6. Ringless Voicemail: A cool technology for debt collectors
Ringless Voicemail allows you to send a voicemail directly to a consumer cell without ringing the phone and without charging the consumer (as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act says, or any call in which a third-party is billed for the call). So this method kind of gets around or is compliant with the TCPA. It doesn’t usually cause complaints but it has met with a general resistance from debt collectors, student loan servicers and financial institutions – probably because everyone is paralyzed about the CFPA and TCPA and the lack of guidance.
Users of direct-to-voicemail cell messaging say they don’t have a problem with TCPA compliance because the consumer is never charged for the call. And did I say it doesn’t cause complaints? Check out our full take on it here.
7. Inbound marketing: It’s TCPA compliant and can be a magical supplement to outbound efforts
Inbound marketing lately is actually more like referred, qualified inquiry creation with a much more engaged, well-educated buyer than in the old days. And because YOU were the one that educated this new breed of buyer looking to have his intimate questions answered, he has a higher propensity to buy – because he’s already put in the work. Couple that with filters designed to get your information to exactly the right people, with exactly the right nurturing to get you to come out and play. Check out our more in-depth take on Inbound to help telemarketers.
8. Free-to-end-user text messaging: Again, for debt collectors
For the right application - really cool. With free-to-end-user text messaging, the recipient does not pay for the text (considered a call by case law), so it’s (possibly) OK with the TCPA.
9. Dialers in “pause and preview” mode (when they reach cell phones): We’ll see
Lots has been written about this one. Court decisions have been made (i.e. Santander) and then reversed. Some companies are doing it. We’ll see.
"So how do I get around the Do Not Call Laws?"
In the end, you can’t. Nobody gets around the Do Not Call laws - for long anayway. The best we can do is get along with them, protect ourselves proactively and appropriately, and supplement our efforts with technology that allows us to ATTRACT consumers a bit more, have THEM follow-up a (rather than us). We need to put more time into creating enticements rather than carpet bombing communications.
In a world where we’ve abused solicitation over the phone and texting and now cell phones—so completely – and caused consumer to fight back for the protection of their personal window to the universe – their cell phone –
We're never going to get around the Do Not Call Laws.
Related Pages: Previous TCPA Litigants - The folks you don't want to call.
