DMA Teleservices Ethics Committee Discusses Proactive Approaches To Industry Self-Regulation
DMA Launches Online Briefing On Predictive Dialer Guidelines
NEW YORK, May 16, 2002 - The Direct Marketing Association's (The DMA) Teleservices Ethics Operating Committee held its first meeting on Tuesday to discuss recommendations for additional self-regulatory efforts. The committee will meet bi-monthly and will focus on individual consumer complaints, as well as provide direction for all teleservices marketers - not just DMA members - in adhering to ethical business practices.
"Through our committee meetings, we hope to more aggressively deal with ethical concerns in relation to the teleservices industry," said Patricia Faley, vice president, ethics and consumer affairs, The DMA. "The committee is dedicated to helping teleservices marketers understand the importance of doing the right thing."
"We'll be addressing teleservices practices that we believe need to be examined more closely. These are important actions considering increasing government and consumer interest in teleservices," said Faley.
Among the topics discussed in Tuesday's meeting:
- Acceptable practices for marketers leaving commercial messages on answering machines.
- Techniques to help marketers keep abandoned call rates close to zero percent.
- Guidance to help marketers comply with pending California legislation.
The DMA also unveiled a new "Do The Right Thing" online briefing session to give marketers guidance on the use of predictive dialers. This brief video-stream presentation provides an overview of existing DMA guidelines on predictive dialers.
"We wanted to leverage a progressive medium to educate our members about guidelines and the law," said Faley. "These sessions are not only available to our members, they are available to the entire industry in a format that will keep viewers engaged."
There are also three other online briefings dealing with marketing to children, sweepstakes, and the Privacy Promise.
To access the online briefing sessions, go to www.the-dma.org/dotherightthing/.
There are no download requirements. However, the briefing sessions can best be viewed through MS Internet Explorer, and with the latest version of MS Windows Media Player.
According to The DMA’s ongoing Economic Impact study, the telemarketing industry served as the largest component of direct marketing by employing over six million people and generating over $661 million in revenue during the year 2001. The telemarketing industry also represents nearly 6% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 5,000 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States exceeded $1.86 trillion in 2001, including $118 billion in catalog sales and $30 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is
www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.###