Direct to Consumer Telemarketing has become more challenging to navigate over the last 20 years with laws designed to protect consumers. In 1991, Congress enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). If you are not aware of the laws—there is a good chance you’re breaking them. For example, a telemarketer who disregards the National Do Not Call Registry could be fined up to $16,000 for each call.

For more information about the TCPA, go to http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0198-telemarketing-sales-rule.

Here are four ways to keep your telemarketing compliant:

1. When are you calling your customers?
Only call customers between the hours of 8 am and 9 pm.

2. Who should I call?
On the federal side, only call customers that have purchased from you in the last 18 months. Outside of that it’s considered cold calling and you will need to compare your database with the Federal DNC.

On the state side of the laws, like shipping, there are certain states you can and cannot call into. Established business relationship or EBR is defined differently by state. Here is a link to this information http://www.inceptresults.com/pdfs/EstablishedBusinessRelationshipChart.pdf .

3. Maintain a Do Not Call list
If anyone asks to be put on the DNC list you will need to do so and maintain it internally. Also, reps will need to be trained on the process of taking customers information and label that customer as DNC.

4. Get a CRM
The best way to establish structure and stay on top of compliance is by using a CRM.

Next Blog – What do I say to customers when I call? – A Good Script