LeadsCouncil Rebrands—and Refocuses—with a New Name and Vision
Rolling out a new name and a reinvigorated vision to match, the former LeadsCouncil announced its change to the Consumer Consent Council this fall. Convoso CEO Nima Hakimi serves on the Board of the industry organization, and is committed to its mission and supporting compliance.
To get the inside scoop on what motivated the change and what the newly christened Council has planned for down the road, Convoso sat down with the Council’s Executive Director, Rob Seaver. Read our Q&A below.
Convoso: What drove your team to reevaluate your name and the brand? And what, in the end, was behind the decision to go with Consumer Consent?
Rob Seaver: When we inherited this organization, it was all about lead generation. Our primary mission was to educate, advocate, and lobby on behalf of the industry. That’s still our objective today—that hasn’t changed.
What we felt, though, as we continue to watch the regulatory environment evolve and watch a general shift in consumer behavior unfold, we realized that there was really just one thing at the heart of it. There’s one thing we’re trying to obtain, and that’s consent.
And it’s not just the responsible acquisition of that consent: It’s the commitment that you make with the consumer to follow through on your promises, both before you have that consent and once you do.
We felt that the four words “No Consent, No Call” would resonate with legislators, regulators, the industry, and the consumer. It’s all about responsible marketing practices and living up to consumer expectations, the promises we make to them.
Convoso: How will you be reaching out to companies in the industry and supporting them?
Rob Seaver: In conjunction with our rebranding, we’re really refocusing on that core strategy and mission—to educate, advocate, and lobby.
So, on the education front, we’re developing a formal set of self-regulation organization (SRO) standards. There’s a perception among governments and legislators that the industry is not capable of self-regulating. So, we’re reestablishing minimum standards for our members.
Today, you can become a member and download our standards. However, eventually, these will need to be self-attested. And, ultimately, to take it even a step further, what we’re going to do is layer in a third-party auditing component that will allow these companies to be independently audited to verify they’re following our standards. In return, they’ll be able to share a certificate and seal that indicates for a period of three years that they’re compliant with our standards.
That will form the base, or foundation, of an SRO. And then we’ll advocate on behalf of that by screaming at the top of our lungs.
Convoso: What does that advocacy look like, exactly?
Rob Seaver: This is a multi-pronged approach to prove to regulators, legislators, consumers, and our industry that our members are capable of self-regulating. We’re capable of rallying around a common goal: obtaining legal consent and all of the responsible practices that go with that.
In turn, what we’re trying to do is lobby on behalf of the industry and, in a responsible way, help educate legislators and regulators on things that they just aren’t aware of. Things like, for instance, the fact that consumers in most are asking for these phone calls from legitimate businesses.
Meanwhile, we’re educating within our industry. There are a lot of people who are aware there’s an acronym out there called TCPA—but they do not have proper disclosures or follow best practices. So, just like with legislators and regulators, we’re bringing them information for the good of the entire community.
Convoso: Beyond the recent rebranding and updated standards, what’s in store for the future of Consumer Consent? What’s the vision for the organization in the next few years?
Rob Seaver: One of the most important things we’re doing for our future, and the industry’s, is looking around at other organizations that are out there fighting similar fights. So, as we continue to work with other organizations like PACE, the Professional Association for Customer Experience, we’re trying to understand what synergies are out there and how we might join forces and verticalize.
So, for example, we see organizations out there doing regulatory and legislative work for the industry—really valuable work. But they’re beating their heads against the wall with a limited budget, limited membership, and limited resources, trying to do something that is very, very resource-intensive, very expensive, and very, very slow to move in a positive way.
What we’re trying to create is an ecosystem where we come together and align with other organizations that have very like-minded missions, to find those resources that we could collectively share to accelerate all of our efforts, simultaneously.
Along the way, identifying opportunities and delivering more benefits, resources, and value to our members is our highest priority.
