Telemarketing Bureaus
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 2,500 telemarketing bureaus in the US operate call centers that initiate and receive communications via telephone, email, fax, or other medium on behalf of their clients. Services provided include promoting or selling a client’s products or services, taking orders, soliciting donations, and handling customer service inquiries.
Privacy Regulations
In response to concerns about telephone scams and consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls, Congress has enacted regulations governing the activities of telemarketing bureaus.
Competition from Offshore Centers
US telemarketing bureaus compete with lower cost services in the Philippines, India, and other low-wage countries.
Industry size & Structure
The average telemarketing bureau operates a single location, has 152 employees, and generates $9-10 million in annual revenue.
- The telemarketing bureau industry in the US consists of about 2,400 firms operating about 3,700 centers with 366,000 employees and $23 billion in annual revenue.
- The industry is concentrated, as the largest 50 firms account for 55% of industry revenue.
- Large US telemarketing firms include ResultsCX, Aucera (formerly DialAmerica), VXI Global Solutions, and ACC Premier (formerly American Customer Care).
- The states with the largest number of telemarketing bureaus are Florida, California, Texas, New York, Ohio, and Arizona.
Industry Forecast
Telemarketing Bureaus Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Dec 4, 2024 - Unwanted Telemarketing Calls Decline
- In mid-November, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2024, and it showed that consumer complaints about unwanted telemarketing calls fell for the third consecutive year. The report also showed that telemarketing complaint volume has fallen by more than half since 2021. Recent efforts to crack down on unwanted calls include a 2024 FTC rule that banned impersonating government or businesses and expanded the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to protect businesses from illegal telemarketing. In 2023, the FTC launched Operation Stop Scam Calls, which was the agency’s most significant effort to stop unwanted calls in its history. The FTC said it continues its efforts amid emerging threats, including expanding TSR to include AI-enabled voice cloning spam calls.
- In November 2024, the number of robocalls in the US decreased month-over-month by 3.7% to 4.7 billion, according to YouMail. On average, US consumers received more than 157 million robocalls per day in November. The top five cities for robocalls in November were Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, and New York. In November, 35% of robocalls were for telemarketing, 26% were alerts and reminders, 21% were scams, 16% were payment reminders, and 2% were unclassified.
- Connecticut recently strengthened its telemarketing statute, according to the New Haven Register. Under the previous statute, entities directly involved in making unsolicited telemarketing calls to consumers were the primary targets. Under the new law, any company doing business in Connecticut – including subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, and vendors – that cause or make “telephonic sales calls” are also subject to the law. Under the new rules, companies that outsource telemarketing to third-parties can be subject to penalties, which include a heftier fine of up to $20,000 per violation. Under Connecticut law, businesses are already barred from making calls to consumers without prior written consent. Exceptions include calling existing customers, calls regarding inquiries, calls from debt collectors and non-profits, and business-to-business calls.
- In late July 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that vehicle service contract (VSC) provider NRRM, LLC - which does business as CarShield and American Auto Shield (AAS) - will pay $10 million to settle charges that the firm’s advertising and telemarketing for VSCs are misleading and deceptive. The FTC alleged that CarSheild’s ads deceptively led consumers to believe all repairs to vehicle systems were covered, that they’d be provided with free rental cars while vehicles were being repaired, and that consumers were free to choose the facility where their cars would be repaired. Some shops do not accept VSCs, and consumers often found their specific repairs were not covered. The $10 million judgement imposed by the settlement will be used to pay refunds to defrauded customers.
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