So says Sean OKeeffe, CEO of OKeeffe & Swartz Consultants, an outbound call centre providing outsourced services to SAs major banks in the sale of simple insurance products. If you strip out cases of manipulation of consumers by unscrupulous direct marketers, telemarketing - at heart - is an extremely practical service to consumers because it makes them aware of products they could otherwise not know about.
 
In the insurance industry, particularly, creation of awareness is a crucial factor because insurance is invariably about issues like accidents, illness and death - that people find unpleasant and consequently avoid thinking about.
 
But a simple policy for a small premium, such as many of the plans we sell on behalf of our banking customers, can prevent ordinary people from having extraordinary financial deprivation added to the emotional anguish of an accident or illness. Had they not had the cover, their suffering would have been massively increased. We get several e-mails and calls of thanks from customers almost every day for precisely that reason.
 
The point is, though, that they could not have had the cover without being told about it. The offer has to be made in the first place.
 
Where telemarketers go wrong and what we need the Act to fix is in the way they make the offer. By scaring the customer into buying a policy or not ensuring that the customer understands what he or she is buying, they create suspicion in the market which, inevitably, damages not only their own business but everyone elses.
 
It is obvious, therefore, that the more integrity you bring to the process of telemarketing the more receptive the market will be and, as a consequence, the more you will be able to grow and be profitable.
 
Accordingly, we at OKeeffe & Swartz would like to see the Consumer Protection Bill brought in as quickly as possible and have all the necessary teeth to ensure compliance. Self-regulation is not an option. There is always one organisation prepared to take short cuts and give the rest of us a bad name.
 
OKeeffe says that it is easy enough for outbound call centres to put processes in place that protect the consumer and therefore protect their own businesses.

OKeeffe and Swartz, for instance, sell only simple products, with simple wording and small premiums, thereby avoiding both confusion and financial risk for the consumer. We also only sell products that are underwritten by reputable organisations, he says.
 
In addition, we record every single call in a digital format that cannot be tampered with. So we can settle disputes very quickly and keep an eye on our agents behaviour.
 
Human resources management is also key to ensuring that the right kind of staff are working with the public. Our training and coaching are both comprehensive and highly focused so that agents are properly accredited before they hit the phones. Also, our disciplinary procedures are draconian. Anyone found to have deliberately misled or manipulated a customer is fired.

In addition, OKeeffe and Swartz get involved in their banking clients compliance processes. The ombudsman has made it clear that he will go after the sales company as well as the initiating principal if he finds abuse of the consumer. So its in our own best interests to help our principals produce both offerings and sales and distribution processes that are aligned with the Act.