| In the past few years, we saw a significant boom in the telemarketing UK industry. From the multi-million dollar corporations to small businesses, and even to political campaigns, telemarketing is used by people all over UK. However, certain telemarketing rules were recently passed which to some extent makes this year, 2006, a tougher year for telemarketers. The new rules I'm talking about is the sudden rise in Telephone Preference Service (TPS) registrations. According to some reports, the diagnosis for the T. UK industry is critical as TPS registrations recently passed the 10 million mark. The registration was passed for the people to be able to avoid receiving cold calls or those unsolicited telemarketing UK calls by registering their phone numbers on a statutory list that bars the calls. However, this new rule has caused some consternation in the telemarketing UK industry. It has been reported that the TPS registration leaves a significant impact on the UK business, perhaps for the reason that many UK companies rely on cold calling as a primary means of winning new customers, and if that route is no longer available because of the TPS registrations their business will under threat, so does the telemarketing UK industry. Despite all those cries, several reports and surveys have made it clear that the future of the cold call is really under attack. First, the new and stronger regulation is allowing the consumers to avoid those unwanted calls. At present, the TPS registration has attracted 5.25 million members, which is equivalent to 24 percent of the UK population. It is further interesting to now that this summer, the TPS was extended to allow business numbers to be registered. Several industry specific regulations are even starting to emerge. One of those is perhaps the Financial Services Authority's ban on the cold selling of mortgage products, which according to some reports will be introduced in October this year. Another support for the claim that the telemarketing UK industry's cold calling is currently under attack is the fact that most people in UK these days are using technology to control those unwanted calls. To put it simply, the consumers today are using answer calls to vet calls and avoid those they don't want. Finally, many telemarketing UK consumers are simply refusing products that are marketed through telephones. This is what led the telemarketing UK industry further into their doomsday. Because of those facts, the telemarketing UK industry is now calling the companies to take action as early as possible. Experts said that companies should start planning for a future which they may not be able to win new customers by phone. They should start on counting the cost of bad practice, which is one of the major factors that trigger the passage of the TPS registrations. Also, the companies must adopt best practices in all telemarketing activities to stave off further legislation, as well as to lessen customer frustration. There are also some who recommends minimizing the telemarketing UK companies dependency on cold calling, and win customer trust by treating them with respect and consideration. Today, although the UK industry somehow felt a sort of despair over TPS, the newly passed legislation should be seen as just the latest development in the information privacy not only in UK, but in Europe. |
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