14 Oct B2B Telemarketing – do you have a legitimate Interest?
Direct marketing using the telephone can be tough. Yet, it is also highly rewarding as it provides direct human interaction that can accelerate the sales process. And following a conversation with a decision maker, you can quickly convert an interest into a qualified opportunity.
A number of people we have spoken to believe that the introduction of GDPR has made it almost impossible to use direct marketing as an element in your go to market strategy, but this is not the case if you stay on the right side of the law.
If you need sales lead generation, but don’t have the internal people, systems or processes then discover how we can help you.
Regardless of whether you use an external agency or carry out sales lead generation internally here are some things to consider. You need to ensure that your data is from a reliable source and that it has been checked against the relevant preference services or that you have had direct consent from the individual you are targeting. Essentially, you need to be able to prove that you have a legitimate interest to make contact.
Do you have a legitimate interest?
There are six main reasons that are seen as acceptable in regard to a lawful or legitimate reason to contact:
- You have consent from the individual
- It is required for the performance of initiating a contract with an individual
- Based on legitimate interests by the controller or a third party
- Processing is necessary to perform a task carried out in the public interest
- It protects the essential interests of a data subject or another individual
- It is necessary for the compliance with a legal obligation
Yet, it is not only about checking data, preference services and ensuring that you have a legitimate reason for contact in the first place, but that you are also able to maintain compliance.
Ongoing adherence to GDPR data compliance
You need to be able to store details in regard to the consent reason by channel, for example, can you reach out by phone, email, SMS or post? You also need to demonstrate the category such as marketing, customer services, insurance.
What do you do when somebody asks for their details to be removed? If you delete them from the database there is a danger they could be added again at a later date and you need a consistent and auditable way of dealing with deletions so that you can demonstrate the actions you’ve taken. And finally, you should also be able to stop tracking of email campaigns if required.
Direct marketing will always be a valuable element in the marketing mix as, particularly with B2B and more complex solutions people buy from people. It is critical though that you stay on the right side of the law and establishing a legitimate interest is an important first step in maintaining good practice in outbound sales lead generation.
Incognate has been providing direct marketing services to our clients for over 16 years, We only source data from approved sources and have implemented the right tools and processes to ensure that we are generating consistent, quality and qualified sales leads in a responsible manner.