Complying with ACCC demands … on a budget

A trade practices compliance program is always a good idea.  It guards against infringements and helps to reduce penalties if something does go wrong.

It’s especially important if you use a call centre for telemarketing.  Rest assured … if you don’t arrange for compliance training, the agents won’t get any.

But when the ACCC demands that you undertake a compliance program, it’s not ‘if’ but ‘how many bucks will we blow on this ?’

Here’s a case study on how to deliver a course that can satisfy court orders, including agent training, without a massive price tag.

The scenario

You engaged a telemarketer to campaign the brand.  Their callpower was impressive and their lead time fast.  You saw results from the start of the campaign.

Then came the ACCC letter.

Apparently there have been complaints from the public that the agents have been saying some pretty dodgy things.  Or maybe a competitor heard about it and dobbed you in.

Either way, the ACCC is on the warpath.

They get so displeased they start legal action.  You see lawyers and find out that this won’t be cheap, whatever you do.  But there’s light at the end of the tunnel:  the ACCC seems willing to let you off the hook from huge fines if you undertake to run a trade practices compliance program.  Sounds okay.

The problem

In these situations, the ACCC normally insists that you accept a court order, or agree to an ‘enforceable undertaking’ which is almost the same thing.

And the orders (or undertaking) typically demand that:

• A trade practices expert has to design and supervise the training course.
• Everyone involved in senior management, sales and marketing has to complete the training.
• Everyone needs to be trained / retrained at least annually, for up to three years.
• That includes all the call centre agents, supervisors and script writers. And ouch! They’re in the Philippines. And ouch! The agents turn over each 80 days on average, You need to train every one of them.
• The program has to be audited by another independent expert.

Sound like it might be difficult … and expensive ?  It sure could be.

A solution

We were faced with just this problem for a mobile reseller.  We needed to deliver training to hundreds of agents a year, in India.  Face to face training was out of the question … None of us was going to live in India for three years

The formula:

• In the ACCC negotiations, limit the scope of training.
• Use multimedia training.
• Use off the shelf technology to deliver it.
• Use legal experts who can produce the multimedia product themselves. Don’t add the extra cost of a scriptwriter and developers.
• Get it done quickly. More time is more cost.
• Use online assessment to simplify auditing.

Limiting the scope

Typically, the ACCC asks for a ‘trade practices compliance program’.  It’s a big Act and that’s a big ask.

The Federal Court considers, and the ACCC will accept, that a company that infringes should only required to train in the areas that were infringed.  Of course, some general background is needed to make sense of particular bits, but focus is (a) more cost effective and (b) more results effective.

So make sure your lawyers are across the previous cases and undertakings, and that they don’t commit you to a wider and more expensive program than is necessary.

They also need to be careful that the orders (or undertaking) use language that’s wide enough to permit e-training to be delivered to most staff.  (A small number of key people such as the Trade Practices Compliance Officer should have face to face training in most cases.)

Multimedia training

We decided on:

• A slick, readable – almost enjoyable – compliance manual on paper and in PDF.
• A Flash audio-visual training session.
• A podcast of the training session.
• A Flash, online assessment tool with reporting.
• A trade practices compliance screensaver.

Off the shelf tools

We won’t catalogue the tools we used, but only because there are so many options that we might choose other ones next time.

What is worth noting is that they were all so cheap that we didn’t need to pass any of the software costs onto the client.  The web-based assessment system was hosted, and that involved a monthly charge – but the authoring tools were not a factor.

The lawyers did the tech

We won’t be challenging Pixar for next year’s animation Oscar but we don’t ask you to pay for an army of animators, either.  The legal experts who wrote the script, spoke the script.

We created the visuals.  We loaded up the authoring software.  We extracted the MP3 for the podcast.  We designed and generated the screensaver.

We did it fast

Lawyers are not cheap.  Neither are multimedia companies, if you have to use them.  But one rule is reliable:  time is money.

As long as you don’t need results in micro-seconds … in which case you can expect to pay macro-bucks … the sooner the lawyers can deliver the product, the better.

Don’t expect an unrealistically low price.  Be prepared to pay promptly.  But then, demand fast turnaround.  It will cost less than the alternatives.

What’s the cost ?

We can’t estimate that until your orders (or undertaking) are finalised.  They will determine how extensive the program needs to be.

What’s for sure, though, is that a multimedia course can cap your spend.  If you need to train ten people, or a hundred, or five hundred you can roll out the package as often as required at no extra cost.  Training a small number of new agents at a time is no problem.  All they need is access to a PC.

Online assessment

This plugs into the auditing issue:  the ACCC will insist on independent auditing.  Especially if you need to train and assess call centre agents and especially if they are offshore,

We used Quizmaker’s online service to host the assessment, and it provides the auditor with easy access to results and reports.

And one more thing …

The ACCC is very keen on industry and consumer education.  They often ask a target company to arrange and fund some of this.

It could be a requirement for an educational radio campaign aimed at consumers.  Or perhaps an article on trade practices compliance in an industry publication.

We have an edge in this department, too.  Peter Moon of Logie-Smith Lanyon is also an experienced journalist.  He’s written a weekly technology column for the Australian Financial Review for more than twelve years and he has featured on several Australian radio stations in tech talkback programs.

Peter is able to produce slick, accessible material for announcements and education programs that will deliver ACCC satisfaction.  No offence to most lawyers, but the stuff they write isn’t exactly fit for the popular press.

The bottom line

Agreeing to a training program might seem like a good way out of an ACCC action.  Unless your lawyers know how to:

• deliver an effective and affordable program, and
• reduce the effort and cost required to audit it -

it isn’t as easy as it seems.

We’re happy to sub-contract this aspect of an ACCC action if you or your advisers want a packaged solution.

Call Peter Moon or Victor Ng of Logie-Smith Lanyon for more info.