Building Brand Reputation: CNAM vs. INFORM

What do you think shows up on the phone when your company tries to contact customers? Does it include your company’s name?  Does it come up as an anonymous 10-digit number? Or perhaps your call says “Scam Likely.” In the latter two scenarios, your customers aren’t likely to want to talk. 

For many businesses, this probably hasn’t been top-of-mind. When your company makes a phone call, you hope the customer answers (then rinse and repeat). But if your company name is inaccurate when you call, that cycle is over before it even begins. 

Your brand matters, as does your customer experience. If you’re relying on a CNAM (Caller ID name) database to represent your business – and represent it accurately – you’re leaving your brand reputation and identity to chance.  

The CNAM Gamble 

Why do you call your customers? Maybe you need to make a delivery, correct an order, follow up on a loan application, or one of the hundred other reasons businesses need to reach their clients.  

You place the call, which then is routed through the phone networks.  

Carriers rely on CNAM databases to help identify outbound calls that are assigned to a specific number. But once your call reaches its intended destination, there’s no telling what the person on the other end sees.  

If your customer has caller ID services enabled, they may see your name and number. But the name on the Caller ID is not something a business can completely control, which means they could receive some weird variation of your business name. 

That’s because there is no universal CNAM standard; there are multiple CNAM databases across the country and carriers may subscribe to one or multiple databases. Without a sole source of truth, your company’s name could be listed inaccurately or with misspellings.  

Brand reputation matters 

Imagine what goes through your customer’s mind when they’re expecting a call from Good Bank but their call screen says something like Goof Bank. Good Bank (you) has a reputation of being fair to its patrons, with low loan rates and excellent customer service. Goof Bank? Sounds like a fake.  

You know the saying: close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

In a best-case scenario, your customer has your contact information saved in their phone. But that’s too much to expect and it puts the identification burden on the client. If you have a large call volume or use multiple numbers for different campaigns, it’s highly unlikely that your customer keeps a Rolodex of your contact information saved to their mobile phone.  

Your problem, but not your fault 

Scammers, spammers, and other nuisance callers are hurting the phone experience. More than 9 in 10 people have received some form of scam call.   

Without a branded communication solution, your call could also show up as an anonymous 10-digit number.

Unsurprisingly, people don’t like to answer calls from unknown numbers. Many people (85% to be exact) also believe that an unknown number makes your business look illegitimate. That means your company, your call agents, customer service representatives, and other people are likely wasting a lot of time playing phone tag.  

Take control of your reputation 

Is there a solution? You bet! 

First Orion’s INFORM branded communication solution is more than a caller ID solution.

INFORM provides peace of mind by delivering calls made to answer, with a 32-character text display that can feature your name, custom message, and number. INFORM also protects your number from spoofing, leaving your brand reputation intact.

Contact us today at firstorion.com/inform