Showing Up as Spam Likely or Scam Likely

Your number showing up as spam or scam likely when calling someone is an industry-wide issue.

Depending on the number, device, and carrier you are calling, your call may be displayed as "potential spam" or "scam likely" for any number of reasons:

• Some people have installed/enabled spam-blocking apps/features on their phone, that will display certain numbers as spam or block them from ringing entirely based on their own criteria
• Some people may block all calls not in their contact list
• Some people may have enabled a spam prevention service through their carrier and each carrier has their own algorithm to detect spam
• Your dialing pattern may cause your contacts to manually mark your number as spam
• Recent update regarding new numbers: major carriers are implementing a new "reliability index" to determine the trustworthiness of a number akin to a credit score.  A high volume of calls with a number that can be construed as spam will lower the number's score and a high volume of "good" calls will raise a score.  A new number will have a low score to begin with and, thus, many major carriers will flag your call as spam likely until "good" call behavior raises your score.  So, if the number is new and showing as spam, call a few phones in the office, answer the call, and let them run for a few minutes to build up a call history!  Don't give up on the number yet--power through!

What are my options

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so before trying to recover from being flagged as spam, we first recommend these preventative tips that are within your control:

- Keep the phrase "below 250" as a refrain in your head. Most major carriers use that number as the cap of calls per one phone number per 24 hour period. A best practice would be to shoot for BELOW that amount so you will have a buffer if people call back. If you are planning on only using one phone number to call out, the amount of calls you should send out depends on how many callbacks you have on average. For example, if roughly 50% of your outbound unconnected calls call back within a period of 24 hours, aim to use each number on no more than 125 calls in order to stay below the limit. If you have multiple agents using that number, create an internal "per agent" ceiling based on how many agents you have! If you would like to call more than that, Kixie's Connection Boost can help with this, because the numbers cycle through a bank rather calling out with one number only. Please contact us if you would like to add this functionality to your account.

- Keep the pitch natural A good calling pitch script leads to fewer hangups and longer phone conversations. Longer conversations leads to higher engagement and higher sales connections, while also keeping call volume in check. The algorithms that some phone carriers have use a ratio of call length to time between calls, so focusing on connection is huge. Some suggest that instead of an actual pre-rehearsed script, your agents call with talking points that they can integrate in a way that is natural to them. An overly rehearsed spiel can lead consumers to reject the call as spam outright. 

-Get on the 'white list' Some companies have options on tools to block calls from any number that doesn't appear on a customer's contact list or other "white list." In order to get on this, another form of outreach firsthand might be necessary. These things include reaching out via email first, making contact via social media connection, or via text if the number is SMS-able.

What to do if my number is already marked as spam?

Don't Panic, Stay the Course

Stay the course... this bears repeating because it is crucial. Just because a few people are saying that your number showed up as spam to them, does not mean you should get a new number, update all your business cards and edit all your email signatures. The best advice is not to overreact, to keep your phone number intact, and trust that your number will gain credibility over time with all carriers the more it is used to connect successfully, just like building your credit.

Get a new Direct Phone Number

Log into kixie.com->my profile->numbers, and get a new number, then set it as your caller ID over in "Edit". No need to get rid of the old one that you suspect of being flagged as spam, in case you get called/texted on it. 

Register your Number with the Free Caller Registry

Use Kixie Connection Boost 

Kixie's Connection Boost is designed to increase your connection rate in 3 complimentary ways: local presence dialing, progressive caller ID, and AI-powered spam protection.

By progressively rotating amongst the highest-connecting local numbers we have in our dedicated number bank, every call you make will show a unique local number with a proven connection rate. This results in higher pickup rates due to local numbers being shown on caller ID, overcomes call screening by allowing you to dial the same number multiple times and show a different local number each time, and offers protection against displaying as "spam likely" by showing the best-performing numbers in the pool, and replacing the poor-performers automatically.

You can enable this feature with our number bank right away, or set up your own local presence numbers.