Dealing With Telemarketers The Easy Way
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…
ROFLMAO listening to this…. OMG! how awful to be the telemarketer in this situation 😀
I have worked in a cold calling centre for Childhood.org.au
and I must say, I never had to deal with anyone like this!!
I get the calls too and someone has to do it… the job, I mean. The reason for the calls in the evening is because this is when most people are home… so I understand when I get a call and politely tell them that I am in the middle of dinner or bathing the kids and could they call me back. 9 times out of 10, I never hear from them again. If it is something that I am interested in and I haven’t got the time, could they please call me back a little later.
Sooooo funny Allan!
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I politely tell them too – but after a few in a row I get a bit toey..
Get them to call back?
They don’t seem to want to after speaking to me… 😉
Hi Allan,
This is a tough job, but it is an intrusion and an invasion of privacy. I can understand their call quotas and sales volume requirements, but to call when you’re relaxing in the privacy of your small space while writing your post is truly bothersome.
Sometimes, when I’m really very focused, I answer by saying, yes to everything he or she says then ask if I can get a yes in return. Sometimes they’re puzzled but then they say yes. So I say, can I change my mind about everything in the morning; and they say yes. 🙂
The same company stops calling. –Durano, done!
Durano Lawayan’s last blog post..Curtain Call for Castro
Hi Durano,
I do have a lot of compassion for them, as it isn’t an easy job. I just wish that they wouldn’t call me!
I love confusing the issue by trying to sell them stuff, asking if they enjoy drinking coffee and if the weather there is any good.
One word that I never utter though is YES – simply because one telephone company was recording people saying yes to one question, and then splicing it in to another, creating the impression in a recording that the person on the other end wanted to change companies…
On the whole though, these are mostly hardworking and honest folks out making a crust like the rest of us…
Cheers!
LOL mate – now where have I heard that before?!
G’day 😉 How goes it mate?
I understand these are people who are just trying to make a living and I am always polite with them. I kindly tell them I am not interested even if I interrupt their pitch to do so. Then I say have a great night and hang up. It is simple and it works!
Yes, I agree, but there are some who just won’t take no for an answer.
That video was hilarious!!
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Hi Kara, thanks for visiting!
I’ve used this as a ‘script’, and it definitely works!
BTW loved the layout of your blog! Very well done!
Cheers