Re:USA Experience (Score 1)

The result was impressive in two ways:

I'm more impressed with the number of ways 2 becomes 5!

On a more serious note, I worked (until recently) for an Australian bank in CRM. Two separate projects I was managing were to integrate outbound telemarketing with the analytical marketing system. The other to cross match customer data with publicly available telephone data to verify details of existing customers and flag potential lost customers. Due to the number of possible legal risks relating to outound calling from revisions to or proposed legislation at the time ie DNC list, Privacy Act review, ACA usage of public telephone database (IPND) (all running concurrently), I recommended that the project I was running to verify customer data be put on hold until the legislative environment was more certain.

Neither did they go ahead with plans to expand to non customer outbound telemarketing. At the time I was there at least.

So the legislation will quite possibly have some effect. Maybe not to a few rogue telemarketers prepared to run the risk. But certainly some businesses will take notice.

Generally speaking the various pieces of legislation and the change in the climate re privacy are a disincentive to invest in the capability at the moment- for some organisations concerned with reputation at least. Yes the irony of a bank and concern for reputation!

As you suggest from your experience recommendations were made to be more precise in analytical marketing efforts and compliance with the substantial legislation re contacting customers(particularly in financial services) and to make better use of the inbound telemarketing channel ie when the phone is ringing

Hey, why not give the customer what they want when they've actually gone to the effort to call and tell the company anyway.

On another note the paper is a proposal at the moment. You can be sure there will be some serious lobbying from the industry in the next month or so.