To make it ever more complicated for telemarketers or solicitors is that some states merge their data with the National Do Not Call List. Other states have chosen to maintain their independence and do not match their phone numbers with the Federal Level.
What is the fine if I call someone on the list and they turn me in? Federal FTC Fines and the state do not call list, cost up to $11,000 per occurrence. How do I avoid fines, even if I am sure my prospect names are mostly on the do not call list. You OR the telemarketing firm must FIRST register the required information with the FTC before you calling start dialing that phone. Keep in mind that checking a few thousand phone numbers against both the state and national do not call list is more than a minor pain. Plus at a yearly cost of $62 per telephone area code it can bring up your marketing costs.
You have 3 solutions. The first is to take the chance and go ahead and make some calls. Remember that state do not call lists not only apply to consumer home numbers, but to businesses and business people as well. With some sales operations having an office in their home, it is difficult to distinguish between the two. The second chance is okay if you only market products in a couple area codes or one state. Get your forms signed, follow the rules, and get started calling. The third solution is the hiring of a professional telemarketing firm.
The telemarketing firm has probably filled out most of the forms, so adding your firm will not be hard. Plus they probably have already paid the costs they incurred for each additional area code they applied for. You have to now pay more for each lead they produce for you, and pass up the big chunk of prime candidates that are on the do not call list. However nowadays some super producing marketing firms paying up to $80.00 through various methods to obtain a lead, are ending up with an excellent return on their investment of $10 profit for ever $1 spent over a 3 year timeframe.
OUR PERSONAL TEST. We recently send 250,000 agent names into a reputable firm for phone matching. As most of these were successful people at residential addresses, we expected close to a 50% match rate. In additional we took the option that all phones found on either state or national do not call lists be removed. They firm warned us that our results would not be spectacular. The returned data was shocking, about 20,000 available phone prospects on the do not call list of our 250,000! This turned out to be a relatively high cost experiment!
About 50% of the sales marketing recruiters that do not conform their current marketing ways will disappear during the next 4 years. They will find more and more, the 2 cheapest ways of obtaining leads to hire agents are losing effectiveness at an alarming rate. If you want to keep your career alive, you can either (a) purchase a quality list of prospects for your products, and then have an outside telemarketing firm call them, (b) build a website using the tactic skills of a true master to bring you direct traffic, (c) buy expensive ad word internet advertising to get traffic, (d) find one of the couple remaining Email lists with integrity, or (e) do it the proven way, get the best mailing list matching your products, and send out expertly designed mail, checked by a knowledgeable person that know what message your piece must contain and how to phrase it.
Do not stand back and see your future devoured by the national and state do not call lists!
You have heard the saying that the more you know, the more you realize you don't know. Don Yerke likes to concentrate on what you don't already know and what no one else dares to print. Tell it like it is, and more people listen. Besides writing articles, Don is the founder and adviser at Agents Insurance Marketing. The website address is [http://www.agentsinsurancemarketing.com] - You find in pages after pages of info lots of facts, tips, tricks, industry secrets, advice, insight, news, and articles. Check out the website now. If subjects such as lead quality, lead generation, agent training, recruiting, direct marketing, insurance marketing, lead sources, sales pitches, or successful sales results appeal to you, then it's a website worth bookmarking.
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