Warming up cold-calling

MiName.co.za, a company where consumers sign-up and ask for the products and services they need instead of being cold-called is now also offering rewards when making purchases.

The launch of start-up MiName.co.za, a recommendations site, coincides with the imminent arrival of South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Bill which is expected to be legislated within the next quarter of 2013. These laws are intended to empower consumers to access and request the correction or deletion of any personal information. It will bring South Africa in line with international data protection laws and at the same time it will protect personal information that is collected by organisations.

We have all had enough of email spam and unwanted SMSes. We all get annoyed by sales calls as we sit down to dinner. In future, consumers will be able to find out who sold their data, ask to be deleted and may only be contacted if they opt in to receive communications. The consequences of companies using data without permission will be severe: fines may be imposed, prison sentences may be awarded and damages may be paid.

MiName.co.za is a site where consumers ask for the products and services they need, MiName offers the product providers and then rewards the customer with cash for buying. The experience keeps personal details confidential and rewards the consumer for sharing information with companies they choose and for purchases they actually need.

Attracting new clients is an on-going problem for most businesses. MiName was started by two actuaries (Gaurav Nair, 25 and Derrick Hyde, 27) and an engineer (Lawrence Joffe, 30), who wanted to put an end to the exploitation of cold-calling.

Many companies are buying leads which have a low sales conversion rate. This leads to companies wasting valuable resources trying to sell their unwanted products to disinterested consumers. In addition, customers are being hassled by the invasion of their privacy. MiName.co.zahelps consumers to unlock the value in their personal information by providing qualified leads for businesses.

Says Derrick Hyde, director of MiName, ‚”There are tremendous benefits for consumers and companies that sign up to attract additional customers. Only interested customers are brought MiName customers tell us what products they want and name the companies that should contact them. Businesses therefore get access to clients who are waiting to be contacted, not just empty leads. This is a smarter solution to increase sales conversion rates and decreased client acquisition costs. There is no risk because MiName only charges on successful sales. Also the business will get increased brand exposure on social media.‚”

MiName believes that companies that typically sell products via call centres are ideal for this new system. Sales categories currently include financial services, sports, travel, motor, online shopping, security services, gyms and property.

Advantages for consumers using MiName include getting money back when they sign up, make a purchase, share their purchases on social media and review products or service providers. It also means there are no more annoying disruptions and there is total privacy. Consumers share only the amount of information that they are comfortable to disclose and select only the companies that they want to contact them.

Companies that have already signed up with Miname.co.za include:

Frank.net

Legal & Tax

Dreams Direct

Incred

Atlas Finance

World of Golf

Play More Golf SA

Planet Fitness

Travelstart.co.za

Pentravel

Auto Pedigree

McCarthy Call-A-Car

Hatfield VW

Zando.co.za

Smacs.co.za

Chubb

Stallion

CSS Tactical

Adrienne Hersch Properties

Pam Golding Properties

*