A nationwide investigation carried out by Ringover found that Brits have been receiving more cold calls than ever before. In fact, almost half of the UK has received an elevated number of cold calls this year.
However, tolerance for cold callers is waning. Our research found that 61 per cent of people in the UK are more likely to complain about cold calls than they were pre-pandemic. And it’s the younger generation that’s most likely to grumble. Despite 18-to-34 year olds receiving lower volumes of cold calls than older generations, 40 per cent are likely to make a complaint about an unwanted cold call, compared to just a quarter of over 55 year olds.
Taking a look across Great Britain, Birmingham is the least tolerant of cold calls with a third agreeing they’re more likely to complain about a call now than they were before the pandemic. Elsewhere, Sheffield is thought to experience the rudest cold callers — 44 per cent of the population find those calling them particularly unpleasant. Wales, however, is the least irritable nation when it comes to cold calling. Only 15 per cent of the Welsh population has ever complained about a cold call, three times less than Londoners.
What is the government doing?
According to our survey respondents, not enough. A whopping 74 per cent of people believe the government isn’t doing enough to crack down on unwanted cold calls.
Bad cold calls, like those phoney PPI claims and calls of car accidents that never happened, have plagued the public for decades, with hundreds of thousands of people reporting unwanted calls every year. The past five years have seen several attempts to crack down on cold calling sharks — with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) fining companies up to £500,000 for excessive calling.
In September 2021, the UK government vowed to impose “tougher penalties and fines for nuisance calls and text messages,” which will be overseen by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) and builds on government action in recent years such as holding individual directors liable for nuisance calls made by their respective companies. More recently, it has also banned cold calls from pension providers and claims management firms, unless individuals have expressly agreed to be contacted.
Don’t let bad cold calls damage your rep
Our glimpse around Great Britain reveals more people than ever are rolling their eyes that the thought of a pesky sales call. What’s even more unfortunate is that those nuisance, poorly-executed calls are damaged the reputation of a genuine, effective sales tactic.
Connecting over the phone will always be vital for building customer relationships and, ultimately, selling products and services. Luckily, there are several tips businesses should follow to make their sales calls successful:
- Know your audience — we know that Gen Z and millennials simply don’t favour phone calls like older generations do. Instead of targeting them in a way that’s proven to be irritating, it’s time to get more creative.
- Go multi-channel — while we still talk about call centres, this label is no longer limited to the single channel of voice. Meet videoconferencing and the power to quickly share screens with a customer via Ringover’s partnership with Crankwheel is a great asset!
- Ditch the landline — cloud calling services are the way forward. They can help you easily integrate other software solutions like a CSM platform into a single place, are easy to scale up as your contact centre business grows, and offer a streamlined way to capture and store customer data so you can be sure you’re calling the right people, with the right information.
Ready to add some heat to your cold calls?
Get in touch with the team today or start your free trial here.
