“There has to be a better way!” How many times have we heard this exclamation in our lives? In all things, we struggle to improve, change and evolve. This is human. But for our industry, the nature of survival is to substantially address the concerns of our stakeholders. The stakeholders for us include investors, consumers, regulators and elected officials.
In the United States, regulators have managed consumer complaints about outbound teleservices by creating a “Do-Not-Call” registry, new controls on communications technology, and insisting on documentation and training. Although a bitter pill, without their push, as an industry, we would not have made these decisions ourselves. Our long-term self interest is in direct conflict with our immediate appetite to squeeze the most out of every hour of telemarketing. In short, we know the right things to do, but because of short-term thinking, we have made poor choices.
On the horizon, we know regulations will expand to encompass customer service and inbound sales. We can become the victims of our own ignorance and greed by turning our backs on reality, or we can choose to make heroic decisions to preserve our industry.
Teleservices is full of brilliant, ambitious, and innovative people. We have it in us to take steps to head off the kind of actions necessitated by active consumer advocacy. What should the strategy be? How should we put forth an alternative to the world to the only choice it has known so far. . .regulation?
The American Teleservices Association (ATA) believes that we must adopt a different strategy. We must move quickly and decisively and as one body to effect change. Everything we do must be geared to the dramatic improvement of our image, and our delivery to the end user. We must work on everything. We must make a difference on every call, in every center, inside every company, in every bill proposed, and with every politician. Our commitment is to work to this end.
Every call
~ We will help consumers see the value of our channel in every call by the professional way that member companies treat them
~ We will encourage firms to use the media opportunity of every call for a yet-to-be-determined message at the end of the call
Every center
~ We will wage the credibility war at the grass roots level by promoting the contact centers in each community
~ We will provide awards and publicity to members to reference the contribution their firms make in terms of taxes, wages, rent, etc.
Every company
~ We will build self-regulation designed to promote the positive outcomes for the end user and the channel
~ We will work to insure that our member firms uphold our ideals in a way that can be demonstrated to politicians, the community, employees, and the end user
Every bill
~ We will examine each piece of germane legislation with an eye to the possibility of supporting it.
~ If we cannot support legislation, we will oppose it productively with a clear strategy, supported rationale, and where possible, alternatives.
Every politician
~ We will treat every politician as a potential friend, and when friendship is returned, we will support that individual with our finances, lobbying, and votes.
~ We will provide the necessary means for our industry to gauge the political landscape and the players by providing a representative-level scorecard on issues of key importance to members.
Change, by its nature, is extremely difficult. We know that business practices and short-term profitability can be dramatically impacted by modest change. But we are not focused on making a difference for today, and this quarter, but for the future.
-- Tim Searcy
(Tim Searcy is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Teleservices Association (ATA). The ATA represents the call centers, trainers, consultants, and equipment suppliers that initiate, facilitate, and generate telephone, Internet, and email sales, service, and support. The ATA represents members' interests by advocating on Capitol Hill and in statehouses nationwide, providing advanced professional education opportunities, defending the teleservices industry in the public realm, and acting as the industry's information clearinghouse.) http://www.ataconnect.org/
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