We all know GDPR is coming (General Data Protection Regulations) on 25th May, but panicking about it won’t help and thinking it won’t affect you is just plain daft because if you have any of these:
- Employees
- Clients
- Prospects
- Suppliers
…then GDPR will apply and you need to make sure you are looking after the information you have on them properly and that you have their consent to contact them.
I was getting so many mixed messages about GDPR, and clients of mine were asking me questions that I wanted to be confident I was answering correctly, so I contacted the ICO directly and spoke with their special GDPR helpline and here’s what I asked the very helpful chap there:
Me: “I’ve been running a very successful B2B Telemarketing business since 2007, however, should I be planning on a new career after 25th May because I won’t be allowed to call anyone without having permission first?”
ICO Chap: “Absolutely not, in fact, you’ll probably be busier than ever because it’s going to be the best way to contact people, as long as you do it right”
Me: “What does that mean?, I thought I’d been doing it right all these years otherwise, how have I got my clients such successful results?”
ICO Chap: “Fair point, so, you must always say who is calling, allow your number to be displayed to the person receiving the call, and provide a contact address or number if asked and, at the end of the call, ask their permission if you want to contact them again and you must make sure they are not TPS/CTPS registered”
Me: “Well that’s exactly what I do anyway, so thank goodness for that! I use one of the authorised companies on the TPS/CTPS website as the charges are minimal and it’s very easy to use their system. If you only have a handful to check at a time, then you can check up to 10 for free. It’s refreshed every 28 days.”
He then said there were more specific details about telephone marketing and live calling on the ICO website that I could pass on to my contacts to check out.
If the data my clients provide me is old and I’m cleaning it as part of the telemarketing campaign, then I request that they have it TPS/CTPS checked or, if it’s only a small amount, I do it for them.
So, in a nutshell, I can continue to send emailers and newsletters to the contacts that I had previously spoken with and gained permission from to keep in touch with as it would be classed as ‘legitimate interest’. And I can continue calling prospects for my clients, safe in the knowledge that the man at ICO, he say yes!
If you’d like to have a chat about your business growth plans and to see how my team and I can help you achieve them, particularly after the GDPR kicks in, then please get in touch, it would be great to hear from you. I do need to pop in a disclaimer here about GDPR as I am not legally trained in any way, so this is all gleaned from my own research and digging.
All the best
Katharine
