In just a couple of weeks, new Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) laws kick in. If you’re a marketer or sales team leader, you need to make sure that you’re 100% compliant in how you contact your customers and prospects. Otherwise, your company may become the target of a class action lawsuit. Be smart, and take action. Here’s what to know:

A Primer on the TCPA

As you probably know, the TCPA was passed into law in 1991. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a series of rules and regulations to protect consumers against damaging telemarketing calls from advertisers. These include automated calls, robocalls with live respondents or pre-recorded messages, and automated text messages.

New Changes: What to Know

Beginning October 16th, marketers will need written consent before sending telemarketing calls or text messages. The exception includes calls that are manually dialed, that do not include a pre-recorded message.

Be smart, and be cautious. If you’re too aggressive, or if you ignore these rules, you expose yourself to significant risk. And ultimately, anything that goes wrong will fall on you.

Speak2Leads has hired an attorney to ensure that our products are 100% safe. Here is what we’ve learned along the way:

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) makes it generally illegal to deliver a prerecorded message to a consumer (cell or landline) or to a business cell phone, unless you have prior express written permission to do so.

• The national Do-Not-Call (DNC) list protects the numbers of individuals who added themselves to the list.
• It is illegal to use an ‘automatic telephone dialing system’ to call any cell phone (business or consumer) without proper written consent.

• Remember that state telemarketing rules vary widely and you can read about them at TelemareketingCompliance.com.  Certain states require licensing and bonding for companies that use any form of telemarketing. You can read about these requirements at TelemarketingLicenses.com and TelemarketingBonds.com.
• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) makes it illegal to deliver a prerecorded marketing message to your prospect unless you have prior express written permission to do so.
• It is also illegal to use any form of automated dialing to call a cell phone without proper consent. This pertains to both business and consumer telephone numbers.
• Thankfully, it is still compliant to send prerecorded messages to business landlines without consent.
• The messages you send must promptly inform the call recipient about: (1) who you are and why you are calling, (2) your real telephone number, and (3) how to avoid future calls through an automated (interactive voice or key-press) opt-out process.  Additionally, the national Do-Not-Call (DNC) list protects the numbers of individuals who added themselves to the list.  Read about the DNC list at DoNotCallLaw.com.  Violations of telemarketing law carry significant penalties, which you can read about at TelemarketingFines.com.
•  Be aware that certain states prohibit autodialing altogether. Read up on other important federal and state robocall rules at AutoDialerLaw.com.

It’s an understatement to say that these laws present a confusing situation for lead-driven marketers and sales teams. Suffice it to say it is safe to continue using Lead Response S2L. Because it is not an auto dialer. It calls you or your sales reps and they manually press ‘2″ to call the lead. However, it can’t hurt to add a check box for written permission to auto dial the prospects cell phone later using Lead Revival.

When using Lead Revival S2L for your old leads now, we will scrub out the cell phones for you and then you are good to call business land lines with a prerecorded message following the scripting requirements mentioned above.

If you have questions or need a helping hand, feel free to reach out to us personally. We’re in this together and here to help each other learn.

-Sammy

Goodbyes are never easy, especially when you’re parting ways with a client.  Plans change. Budgets wind down. Companies shift direction.

Especially in the services industry, churn is far-too-common. As much as you’ll invest in keeping your customers close, some will inevitably slip through the cracks.

And here’s the thing. It’s inevitable. You can fight it by changing the terms of your contracts or by building a new product feature. You’ll do anything and everything for your clients, as these folks are near and dear to your hearts. It hurts to part ways — kind of like a breakup.

So what happens when churn strikes?

The truth is, it isn’t the end of the world. When handled right, a B2B breakup can actually be an extremely positive experience. Here are five tips for what to do:

1. Give your partner space

Accept that the fit just isn’t there. Take a step back to give your partner space, and stop trying to beat a dead horse. Take a breather. Embrace the situation. As tempting as it is to feel upset, don’t. Negativity is a waste of energy when you should be focusing on more productive efforts like prospecting for new business.

2. Focus on actionable takeaways

Why did the relationship fail? Perhaps there are a mismatch of skills. Maybe your two businesses’s directions changed very suddenly. Instead of wondering over what could have been, take the time to focus on what actually happened. Reinvest the experience into takeaways for your sales strategy moving forward. Would you do anything differently next time? Why or why not?

3. Look beyond what’s happening now

Customer relationships are more valuable than what’s right in front of you. Who knows what could happen in the future? Your paths could overlap again — perhaps in another context. When your customers churn, don’t dwell on the lost opportunity. Instead, focus on the long-term relationship. It’s a small world, and you’ll inevitably come across the same connections again and again. Keep an open mind.

4. Keep a diverse portfolio

It’s true that you should value and respect your customers as individuals. Give them the time and attention that they need to succeed. But as a business, you need to protect yourself. Keep your client portfolio as diverse as possible.  The more you focus on scaling your business, the less you’ll feel stressed over churn. If a customer backs out, it’ll feel like a bummer — but it won’t be the end of the world.

5. Stay positive, no matter what

No matter what, keep smiling — even if you’re feeling upset with your team or company. Negative energy will cause more damage than you realize, so don’t let your stress come though. Feel good, and stay relentlessly optimistic. And if you truly are feeling upset? Fake it ’til you make it. When you stay positive, the chances of receiving a glowing recommendation will increase exponentially.

An end to a business relationship is not always the end of the world. For all you know, parting ways could help push your company towards new beginnings. Don’t let churn bog you down. It’s healthy. It’s normal. It’s part of the business process.