I’ve got a lot of respect for telemarketers – it’s not an easy job at all, as anyone who has done cold calling will tell you!
I just wish that they wouldn’t call me, that’s all!
They wait until you’ve just arrived home, dinner’s just about to be served, and something drastic is happening in a teenager’s life!
Let me tell you, a teenage daughter’s latest drama is almost enough to turn you off dinner, let alone some telemarketer who just won’t hang up!
I realize that dinner time is the best bet for catching people at home! I’ve come to the point recently where I take the phone off the hook at mealtimes.
I can just imagine the scene in the call centers in countries such as India and the Philippines, with a bank of clocks showing the time zones and when dinner is served in different countries.
I first heard this a couple of months back, and actually used it as a script when the next telemarketer called.
The result? He hung up, and the number of calls from that call center seems to have dropped significantly!
My Telemarketer friend hung up half way through my spiel…
Another way I have learned to foil telemarketers is to try and sell them something, get them to visit my blog, or just change the subject and talk about what the kids have done today, and how they are doing in school.
One friend just hands the phone to their four year old, who just loves to talk on the phone….
Regardless, these people do a job that isn’t easy, and you have to admire their perseverance, especially in the light of the hassles that they receive from people like me…
