January 18, 2023

Maintaining Caller ID Integrity to Increase Answer Rates

Consumers do not trust calls from unknown dialers, and most won’t go near a call labeled “spam” or “scam.” That’s why your business’s health relies on your caller ID integrity. Without this key element, your answer rates will drop and negatively affect your profit margin.

Savvy consumers are more likely to answer calls from trusted businesses and ignore other calls. But maintaining caller ID integrity means committing to specific maintenance practices. 

Compliance Is Key!

Abiding by compliance regulations is the first step to maintaining caller ID integrity. Compliance is required by the federal government, but it also proves your business is intent on consumer safety. For instance, abiding by the TCPA and DNC is essential for all contact centers.

• TCPA: Enacted in 1991, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act establishes rules for telephone marketing calls and certain telemarketing practices.
• DNC: Consumers can opt onto the National Do Not Call List, which makes it illegal for most telemarketers to contact them.

In addition, your contact center should be aware of geographic and industry-specific compliance regulations, such as the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and SOX, which applies to all publicly traded companies. 

Diligent Data Hygiene

Good data hygiene helps improve answer rates, a key performance indicator for the industry. Bad data, such as outdated call lists, means your agents spend precious time calling disinterested consumers. This step also proves to your customers that you care about their privacy and security. Ways to improve your data hygiene include:

Register Your Phone Numbers

Registering your CNAM data ties your phone numbers to your business. This allows carriers to display your company’s name on caller ID to reassure consumers that a legitimate business is calling. By registering your numbers, you connect your business reputation to all of your outbound calls, which should improve your answer rates. 

Scrub Lists

Before dialing, your business should scrub all leads against the DNC and Reassigned Numbers Database. Often companies buy lists that do not have up-to-date information, leading your agents to call people who definitely do not want to hear from you. Scrubbing your lists is essential in maintaining industry compliance standards. In addition, scrubbing lists also increases the number of legitimate leads that your agents will dial.

Data Governance

How you manage the data you collect says a lot about your business. Your customers want to know their information is safe and not being shared without their express permission. Protecting your clients means having a process to remove customers from calling lists and CRM systems if they request it. Being careful with data boosts your business’ reputation and increases consumer trust.

Audit and Update Your CRM Data

Your customer relationship management (CRM) systems need careful maintenance. You should continually update the contact information in your CRM. Otherwise, you will contact people who have expressed no interest in your products and services, damaging your company’s reputation. Auditing your CRM systems frequently can help improve the accuracy of your customer data and ensure that the contact information matches that of your call lists. 

Ethical Dialing

Consumers are suspicious of many incoming calls. Ethical dialing will help improve answer rates and enhance your business reputation. You will encourage consumer trust by embracing dialing hygiene, and your phone numbers will have a lower chance of receiving flags or blocks.

Agent Ethics Training

Proper agent training is another key to effective dialing hygiene. Your contact center agents strongly influence how customers view your business. Poorly trained agents can sour potential clients by seeming rude or uninformed. A well-trained team that understands effective, ethical dialing behavior provides excellent customer service while boosting your reputation and client retention.

Strive for A-Attestation

With the advent of STIR/SHAKEN, attestation ratings are one of the most important aspects of your dialing effectiveness. An A-attestation rating shows that carriers and analytics engines have authenticated the source of your call. The consumer then gets your full caller ID information and knows the contact is legitimate. Using trusted carriers and partners will help ensure you achieve the highest attestation ratings in your calls.

Retain Old Phone Numbers

Phone number integrity is also key to successfully placing your calls. By retaining old numbers instead of constantly switching them, your business can make certain they are clean and accurately tied to your business.

Purchased numbers can come with flags attached, especially if you use unproven vendors for your lead lists. Some of these numbers could have been used by bad actors or agencies that used spammy tactics in the past. By dialing them, you are risking your company’s hard-earned good reputation. 

Monitor Your Caller IDs

The best way to maintain caller ID integrity is through diligence and consistent monitoring. By being vigilant, you can catch flags or blocks on your numbers. If you spot problems early, you can alter ineffective dialing tactics or ditch inaccurate lists before they harm your company’s good name. It’s always better to find flags or blocks so you can remediate and redress any dialing issues your company has.

Redress Phone Number Flags

Sadly, no company completely escapes issues with their numbers. Despite abiding by compliance standards, data hygiene, and dialing ethics, your phone numbers may still receive flags. Identifying these flags is a good start, but you must redress the underlying issues.

First, determine why your number received a flag and correct that problem. Then your contact center can redress flags by communicating with the carriers or analytics engines that issued them. In some cases, you may need to take your complaint to the FTC. 

Vigilance in Caller ID Integrity

Carriers have still not fully implemented STIR/SHAKEN regulations, meaning that you must remain vigilant when it comes to caller ID integrity. Remaining in compliance with the law, practicing good data hygiene, and maintaining strong data governance helps you protect the reputation of your company and increase your answer rate. These two principles are the foundation of a successful calling operation.