Don’t let your insurance telemarketing come to a tragic end. Find out how to maintain compliance so you can keep calling.
Insurance telemarketing compliance may sound like a scary subject, but it’s not. Yes, there are rules and regulations you need to follow. Yes, failing to follow those rules can lead to some pretty darn hefty fines.
The same can be said for driving a car. Some states in the U.S. may impose fines of several hundred dollars and even jail time for speeding. Yet, that doesn’t stop us from driving. And it’s probably no great revelation that the more serious violations result in more severe penalties.
The same is true with insurance telemarketing compliance. Pay attention to the requirements, and you’ll be fine. There are some details that can help, though.
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Find out why you don’t need to be afraid of insurance telemarketing compliance
A large part of maintaining your insurance telemarketing compliance is what your grandparents would call good old-fashioned common sense. Introduce yourself when you call someone, don’t call too early in the morning or too late at night, and don’t call someone who tells you not to call them.
Of course, we all have the potential to make mistakes. However, before you worry about that $43,792* fine per violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), know that the Federal Trade Commission is not specifically out to get you. Among other provisions, safe harbor elements within the TSR account for these mistakes as long as you make a concerted effort to follow regulations, including written procedures and training.
(*The FTC occasionally adjusts the maximum penalty based on inflation. This number reflects an increase of $512 from 2020.)
What rules do you need to follow to maintain your insurance telemarketing compliance?
- Don’t make calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time. That means if you’re on Eastern Standard Time, you can’t call someone in California before 11 a.m. your time. You could, however, call them up to midnight, since it would be before 9 p.m. for them.
- Don’t abandon calls. This means you should neither hang up on the person you call nor should you leave someone on hold waiting for a salesperson once they answer the call.
- Wait for 15 seconds or four rings before assuming a call will go unanswered and hanging up. Incidentally, if this happens and the call goes to voicemail, with Call Logic, you can take advantage of the Voicemail Drop feature and let the software leave your prerecorded message while you move on to your next call.
- In some cases, you may need permission to call or leave a message. For example, “the TSR expressly prohibits outbound telemarketing calls that deliver a prerecorded message unless the seller has obtained the call recipient’s prior signed, written agreement to receive such calls from that seller. The prohibition applies to prerecorded message calls regardless of whether they are answered by a person or by an answering machine or voice mail service.”
- Identify your company before you give a sales pitch.
- Be truthful and honest about the reasons for your call. It’s probably safe to assume that’s generally a good business practice and falls under the “common sense” guidelines, but the FTC specifically states that as a rule.
- Don’t call numbers on the Do Not Call registry. Makes sense, right?
Do Not Call compliance
Again, most of these insurance telemarketing compliance rules are basic phone etiquette. The Do Not Call registry does include some additional details, though.
You need to follow the national DNC list, but you also need to keep an internal list. The FTC refers to these as “entity-specific.” A consumer doesn’t need to be on the national list, but if they ask you to remove their number from your calling list, you’re required to do so. The FTC also requires you to update your list every 31 days.
If that seems like a lot of work, software like Call Logic can lighten the load by automatically scrubbing the list every time you make a call. This continuous scrubbing takes the worry of DNC compliance away so you can focus on your customers and prospects.
You do need to take insurance telemarketing compliance seriously. But you don’t need to fear it. Like many regulations, following these rules is good business and good customer service. After all, how many prospects are going to listen to your sales pitch at 7 a.m.? Or if you don’t bother to identify yourself and they have no clue who you are?
Make more calls in less time with Call Logic. From client profile management to automated voicemails to built-in compliance, we’ve got you covered in every aspect of your business. Schedule a free demo today to learn more!