Consumers appreciate useful outbound calls.

One of the biggest areas of controversy in the area of telecommunications is the usefulness of telemarketing. While many consumers begrudge those dinner hour calls from companies they have no interest in working with, still others do buy the products and services offered in the calls, making them valuable to their parent companies.

Harris International recently completed a survey on behalf of speech technology company, Nuance. The survey found that consumers do actually like receiving outbound calls from companies, as long as the information provided is useful. The other catch--it needs to be a company with which the consumer is already doing business.

According to this survey, more than 80 percent of respondents do not mind being called at home in the evening as long as it is to alert them to a potential threat of fraud, a product delivery or payment. Consumers also appreciate appointment reminders.

Harris International also found that most consumers expect that a company should solicit their permission before sending out proactive sales messages--even if they are recorded. At the same time, a lower proportion reported that it was necessary to get permission for useful communications like service outages or travel updates.

Ian Turner, general manager northern EMEA of Nuance said, "The private and professional lives of todays always-on generation of consumers, is far busier and more complicated than ever before. Proactive outbound messaging can make their lives easier through measures such as timely reminders or helpful information alerts. This service is not invasive, and it has been well received by consumers who have come to value its efficiency."

While this survey revealed valuable information as to consumer preferences when it comes to telemarketing notifications, these preferences can change over time. For instance, if a consumer starts receiving calls frequently from several different companies, the value of the information diminishes with each call.

One method to avoid oversaturation could be for companies to ask their customers what type of information for which they want to receive notification--such as fraud alerts--and what information they would prefer to find out on their own. This approach can not only help to contain outbound customer contacts, it also communicates how important the customer is to the company.

In this day of shrinking dollars, companies are seeking better ways to communicate with and sell to customers. When a company puts the customer first, their communications are more likely to be received positively to help drive revenue.

Susan J. Campbell, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, CUSTOMER INTERACTION SOLUTIONS