| |
17th
October 2002
Ignorance, oversight or plain
irreverence is leaving many businesses liable to multiple
£5,000 fines against the backdrop of increasing numbers
of companies registering not to receive unsolicited approaches
via the phone, post, fax or e-mail.
Take, for example, the comprehensive business database of
leading data provider Thomson Directories, where more than
10% of the 2.2 million UK business listings are currently
registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or
Fax Preference Service (FPS). With this ratio, each
time an unscrupulous company does not check their prospect
lists against the latest TPS/FPS lists, they stand a greater
than 1 in 10 chance of contacting a registered company and
so potentially incurring a fine.
“Not checking business data against TPS/FPS costs
companies in other ways too,” commented Naomi Wallens,
Business Information Product Manager at Thomson Directories.
“They are wasting time and money by contacting businesses
who will not be interested.” According to
the Direct Marketing Association, each year an estimated £95million
is wasted by companies incorrectly targeting their direct
mail activities.
This warning goes out particularly to SMEs, as Thomson Directories
have found that larger companies are much more aware of the
dangers of not screening against TPS/FPS - as part of their
reputation protection processes. It is also important
to note that the responsibility for finalchecking of preference
registrations lies with the user and not the data provider.
Peace of mind for businesses reliant upon direct marketing
can be gained by working with a leading data provider such
as Thomson Directories, which has an ongoing verification
and screening programme of all its listings against the latest
TPS/FPS data.
As communication channels and methods develop, so too will
the regulations that govern them. While there is currently
limited awareness among companies in general about TPS and
FPS, despite the exponential growth in business internet usage
over the past few years a survey by Thomson Directories revealed
that just 4% of businesses recognised that data issues surrounding
E-mail Preference Service (EPS) were an issue.
Customers of Thomson’s Business Search PRO CD-ROM, containing
over 2 million UK business listings, can also opt to receive
monthly TPS/FPS updates that work in conjunction with the
CD-ROM. This ensures that the user is not making calls
or faxing companies who are registered on the most recent
TPS/FPS files.
For further information please contact our Press
office.
|
