I Got Pressed One'd Today!

[Norwayguy]

PHR phone leads but they say theirs are legal.

They also say every call begins with a human asking permission to play a recorded message which technically is not a rink call or press 1 lead in the classic sense.

 

[Josh]

So far I've yet to hear a client even make a remark about the robo call. I call stating I am following up to a call they recieved from the company and we go from there. It's yet to be brought up again.

Then you're not hearing all the recordings.

I dug this one up from the old archives. Seriously, ask to here the rest of them.

I think you just don't care about them being legal or not (you've said as much).

Edit: audio link isn't working on the forum, may repost later.

 

[Josh]

Hmm, now that sounds pretty reasonable. Not really a press 1 lead though right? I'm tech savvy enough to question how this is achieved.

Phone rings: Hello?
Telemarketer: Yes sir do I have your permission to play a recorded message?
Customer: Sure
Telemarketer: Thank you *initiates recording*
Recording: Hello, blah blah press 1 for more or press 2 to be removed from our list.

Ok at this point I'm seeing an issue. It's just a recorded message. So does the telemarketer stay on the line and if they hear the 1 pressed they jump in and say "Thank you for your interest sir I'd be glad to help you out"? If a tone is hit after the option for 2 does the telemarketer assume the 2 was pressed and just hang up and remove them from the list?

If you play a recording for someone what dialer exists that has the technology to send them to a voicemail box if they press 1?

The key difference is they have permission to play a recorded message. The TM can go watch a movie and that point it won't matter, the key thing is the prospect gave permission.

Quite a few dialers have that functionality, including the one I'm offering. You call, get permission, then just transfer it to an IVR.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Quite a few dialers have that functionality, including the one I'm offering. You call, get permission, then just transfer it to an IVR.

Am I mistaken, or doesn't the statute require the party called to give written permission?

 

[Josh]

Am I mistaken, or doesn't the statute require the party called to give written permission?

That's partially true. They say written permission, then they also go on to say that they can accept electronic signatures. The other thing about that is it's specifically in reference to the voice broadcasting vs the live intro. If they were calling to get permission then disconnecting, then calling back I'd think that would take more of an issue. Personally I'd stay the heck away from it to begin with. My dialer has the functionality to do it and I could make a pretty healthy margin on it (especially when you factor in the data sales with it), but it's dirty pool.
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Of course I'm not hearing all the recordings. What lead company is going to charge me and then send me a recording of an old guy yelling "DAMN YOU TO HELL AND TAKE ME OFF YOUR LIST!!!"?

You were saying that you haven't had customers complain. I was just pointing out that many, many, MANY seniors hate it. I'm so sick of being robocalled, if I'm at my desk, I'll just go straight to the site and fill out the form. If I have a few more minutes I'll actually press one and get more info about them to fill it out. How many seniors do you think are sitting at home waiting to do the same? How many CMS secret shoppers do you think are just dying to get your call?

Also your link doesn't work BTW.

Looks like a forum issue. I'll try to repost it later.

And I do care Josh, I just question everything. It's my nature. If it is true that press 1 leads can be generated legally via a live person starting the call (though I question the technical capabilities of this) than great.

The technology is definitely there. Five9 does it to, they charge $149/month per seat plus $0.016/minute for the calls.

Heck, if this is possible how do I know the leads I'm buying aren't generated in this way? Maybe they are.

In which case I guess I'm breaking no laws and I can sleep well tonight

It's obvious that you are aware that they may be illegally generated. Ignorance is not an excuse. By all means sleep like a baby.

 

[coloradoseniormarket]

Insurance agents have given a predatory taint to the nature of this business for decades. Long before robo dialers. All it takes is one person to have a bad experience with a "Lincoln Heritage/NAA" type (meaning they are pushy to get in the door, pushy to get the sale, and push a high rate on you unnecessarily) for that person to tell 30 friends how awful insurance agents are.

So far I've yet to hear a client even make a remark about the robo call. I call stating I am following up to a call they recieved from the company and we go from there. It's yet to be brought up again.

Discussing the legalities of press 1 leads is fine and interesting but I think it is a bit of a stretch to say they contribute to the bad reputation agents have. What an agent does in the home and how they treat a client is FAR more damaging if done in an unethical way.

*Sorry to any good NAA/LH agents out there. Not using YOU specifically as an example, just a generalization those IMO's have earned here at the forums*

I don't like the calls and to make a point if I had more legal training I would take them to small claims court and sue. Read an article last year on a man that decided to take a stand over spam e-mail- makes a rather good living at taking them all to court. I have enough outlet for Viagra and Cialis to last my lifetime and the hereafter in heaven with those 26 virgins as promised.

 

[Rearden]

Press 1s are illegal B2C but the odds of the local insurance agent getting thrown in the slammer are next to nothing, not to mention getting your pants sued off.

The law was meant to go after the spammers that blast millions of callers per day about credit card rate reduction and free trips, which probably account for 90% of the spam.

But it is illegal.

 

[kwamster]

So you're saying that press 1 robocall leads are illegal?

It's illegal to use them to contact consumers, but you can still use them to contact businesses and phone numbers that people use or list as business numbers.

 

[Sherd]

I get calls asking permission to put me through. I tell the person to remove my number and not call again. Most (I can't think of one who hasn't yet) insist they have to send my call through to the next person to get the call stops. One time I said ok and got forwarded to a recording. The other time I had a mortgage consultant near cussing when he found out all I asked was to be removed from the call list. I'm guessing he paid good money for my "lead"

Now I just ask them to hold a minute and walk away from the phone.

sherd