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The future of telemarketing services

There has been an unprecedented growth in the volume of telemarketing services in the past few years. Consider the following statistics released by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). Sales made via telephone topped a whopping $660 billion in 2001.This amount is equal to almost six percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)! In 2001, nearly 185 million consumers spent nearly $270 billion on purchases that originated with calls from marketers. Telephone marketing is the number-one direct marketing sales medium, followed by direct mail, newspapers, television, magazines and the Web. According to the association consumers are increasingly relying on telephone sales calls for a variety of purchases that often depend on one to one conversation with the marketer.

In recent times inbound call centers have been successfully outsourced to a number of destinations primarily Asia. An emerging trend is the outsourcing of telemarketing services centers to these destinations. The locals at these places have been receptive to voice and language training. Extremely low operational costs of call centers in these areas are enticing more and more marketers to shift their operations in these areas. As opportunities for telemarketing services grow, the supply of qualified help will slow. To attract and retain employees, employers will have to offer a whole host of benefits designed to meet the needs of a new generation of workers. Part-time, flexible, and attractive incentives are expected to increase as employers make their workplaces more friendly.

As the telemarketing services segment is growing, there have been a lot of customer complaints against them. The National Fraud Information Center reports that consumers lost $5,679,855 in 2000 due to telemarketing fraud. Even though the industry growth seems high, the popularity of telemarketing services is quite low. Many customers find them intrusive and irritating. To safeguard the privacy rights of customers, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) issued the amended Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) on January 29, 2003. One significant amendment to the TSR prohibits calling consumers who have put their phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. The commission maintains a National Do Not Call Registry, a list of phone numbers from consumers who want to limit the calls from a telemarketing call center. If the company calls in spite of a customer’s objection again, it may be subject to a fine of up to $11,000.