Page 583 - Business Principles and Management

Unit 6

Focus On...

TELEMARKETING—DOING IT RIGHT!

Telemarketing employs more people in the U.S. than any other form of
direct marketing. Over 1 million people work directly in telemarketing,
and their work creates over 8 million additional jobs in order process-
ing, distribution, and related support positions. Companies spent $58
billion on telemarketing in the late 1990s, compared to $37 billion
on direct mail. However, telemarketing often has a negative image.
Telemarketers sometimes bother people, are rude or unprepared, or
mislead customers into thinking they are participating in a survey.
The responsibility for ethical business practices is shared by indi-
vidual businesses, professional business associations, federal and
state governments, consumer groups, and individual consumers.
Each is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations when compa-
nies violate established fair business practices.
Business associations create codes of ethics that, although not en-
forceable by law, provide guidelines for ethical practices for member
businesses. The associations enforce the code of ethics by publicizing
the information to consumers, asking customers to identify unethical
businesses, and removing businesses from the association if they vio-
late the code.
The following are some key features of the American Teleservices
Association Code of Ethics for Telemarketing:
• Companies should not call people who are unlikely to be interested.
• Calls should be monitored by the company to ensure quality
service.
• The product and delivery should be exactly as promised, and
consumers should be informed of their options if service is
unsatisfactory.
• All calls should clearly identify the name of the organization
making the call and the purpose of the call.
• Guarantees and warranties should be clearly disclosed and
copies made available on request.
• Merchandise should not be sent without clear customer permission.
• All calls should be made during reasonable hours.
Think Critically

1. Why do you believe telemarketing is such a successful direct
marketing tool yet continues to receive a large number of
consumer complaints?
2. Based on your experience with telemarketing, do telemarketers
generally follow the ethics statements listed above? Which are
most often followed and which are not?
3. What responsibilities do you believe consumers have in deal-
ing with ethical problems they encounter with telemarketing?
Should they do anything when they encounter ethical treat-
ment from businesses?
4. Prepare several statements of ethical practices that should
apply to Internet marketing.

Source: www.ataconnect.org (The American Teleservices Association, Inc.);
www.the-dma.org (Direct Marketing Association’s Telephone Marketing)

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