The Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS)
The CTPS is an odd animal. On the one hand most people in business recognise the need to be proactive and seek out new business by telephone, but on the other hand some business simply don't want to be called.
The CTPS was originally created in June 2004 to help traditionally smaller businesses, from being bombarded with sales calls from bigger more established businesses. It also suited those staff working in large organisations with direct dial numbers to avoid receiving sales calls by registering.
Does the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) really measure up to the job?
Soon after it was launched however, large institutions such as hospitals started to register upwards of 1,000 telephone numbers at a time with little or no knowledge of what numbers were being registered on their behalf or who within their organisation was registering them. Companies supplying the NHS, claiming to be able to save it money, were outraged at what they believed was abuse of the CTPS and not what it was intended for.
In November 2004, five months after the CTPS was launched, John Price the then chair of the DMA's Contact Centre Council was quoted as still being supportive of the new CTPS service. Like all things 'new' though, the CTPS got plenty of attention in its early months and then got relegated to the news back burner. Over the coming 11 years, the CTPS has grown to over 2 million numbers.
So, is the CTPS fit for the job?
Few business models can survive or exist without cold calling to sell their goods and services. Is it therefore necessarily right that some businesses get to make calls to sell their goods and services, but decline to receive them?
Maybe registration on the CTPS should be on the proviso that if you register your business, you cannot in turn make cold calls or risk a fine?
Nowadays, it would be fair to say that some businesses may rely entirely on the internet to generate sales and not on telemarketing (although that would not have been true when the CTPS was first created) and those businesses may fairly and reasonably be registered on the CTPS. However, businesses who rely on proactive marketing, especially telemarketing, perhaps should not be allowed to register on the CTPS.
Is the CTPS stamping out UK Businesses?
Registration on the CTPS is free, although businesses have to re-register (or rather reconfirm their registration) every year.
Relevant links
Please note
Registration on the Corporate Telephone Preference Service register only covers businesses in the UK.
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