The FTC is taking their recent ruling very seriously with regards to making sure companies are abiding by the telemarketing robocall rules. Recently, the FTC slapped a fine against Talbots for conducting robocalls without the ability for the consumers to opt out. In December 2008 the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) was enacted to prevent this sort of thing from happening. Unfortunately, the procedures Talbots (and it’s call center) were doing, did not agree with the TSR requirements.
This sort of fine being slapped against companies is probably something we will all see more of. The bottom line with this is if you are not following the rules with regards to the telemarketing guidelines, you will be facing fines also. If you are wanting to effectively run a telemaketing campaign, you better do it the right way or your company will be the next one dishing out money to the government. Is it really worth it??

In a previous blog post, I discussed the FTC cracking down on those that were making “robocalls” to consumers. These were calls where a computerized message was placed to consumers about things such as car warranties. Well now it is official- The FTC (Fair Trade Commission) has enacted new rules forbidding the prerecorded commercial telemarketing calls to consumers without written permission from the consumer. These calls being eliminated has created a lot more buzz for internet generated leads, because now businesses need to get the most targeted people they can for their buck. A perfect example of this is the car warranty leads. The car warranty industry was very much involved in having these pre recorded calls placed to consumers to drum up business. Now that this is illegal, many advertisers are reaching out to companies like Leadpile for the targeted car warranty leads where the consumer physically opted in for information about a car warranty. Other verticals like debt and repairing your credit are services that were using robo type of calls and will be counting more on people like us to get these targeted consumers.
The ironic thing that just happened to me. I just received a robocall from a lender wanting to try and modify my home loan. Unfortunately, I tried to get a live person on the phone and was unsuccessful. I guess these new FTC rules didn’t scare everyone.