Those Annoying Telemarketers

[RussellWebb]

I get quite a few telemarketing calls at my business and I thought I would share a couple of tips that work well in minimizing these distracting calls. I've been on both sides of this issue and I don't feel that being rude is the best solution, out of respect for other humans I try to keep it discreet and professional. Unless they keep calling back week after week... then they get rougher treatment.

My favorite:

Ring ring.... the telemarketer is quickly into his pitch: I say "excuse me I'm in the middle of a meeting, can you call back?"

This works great 99% of the time - it shuts them up INSTANTLY. They usually never call back either...

Second Favorite:

I witnessed my friend do this at his home and was impressed... good strategy I thought...

Ring ring - the telemarketer is quickly into his pitch: I say "excuse me, I'm busy at the moment, can I get your home number and I'll call you back as soon as I can?"

Flustered and confused telemarketer: "Huh? Why would I give you my home number? Sorry I can't do that."

"Why not? You're calling me at home, why can't I call you at home? It's only fair"

This can go on and on....

Finally, if they are calling every week like those automated machines, and I recognize the number on caller ID, then I answer and hang up. Problem solved.

..

[GT Bulmer]

Hi, Russell:

Thanks for the tips on this timely issue! When I started reading your post, I immediately thought of a response to recommend ... then I read your second suggestion ... and that's what I was going to write!

There's two things I do:

- First, once I know I don't want to listen to their speil, I will interupt them politely but forcefully and say, "Thank you for calling. I am not interested. Goodbye," and I hang up (usually while they are talking, trying to win me back. But I warned them I was saying goodbye.)

- Second, if I am at my computer, I will just let them talk as long as they want while I do email or whatever. If they ask a question or try to make the selling close (if I'm paying attention well enough to notice ), I'll say "not interested," and that usually launches them into Stage 2 of their presentation. I just repeat the process as long as they want, but always saying no, not interested, every time I get a chance.

GT

[TannyL]

I usually hang up, but once I tried and asked this person to call me back at 2am, the answer was "why? I don't work at this hour!"
My husband also loves making different noises and mass up with them, making conversation, making me laugh, they usually hang up on him

[Trent Brownrigg]

Haha I love it. Good tips! I will definitely try the one asking if I can get their number and call them back at home. That's genius!

[David Hurley]

I have a simple question...

Why do you answer the phone?

That is what an answering machine is for!

I only answer the phone once the person starts talking to the answering machine and I ascertain that it is somebody I want to talk to. Yes, a lot of people hang up when they hear the answering machine - obviously their message was not important, so their hanging up suits me just fine.

[RussellWebb]

Hi David -

Why do you answer the phone?

If I don't... they just find someone else - blip - just lost the job.

In fact I recall last year missing a phone call, by just a minute or so and feeling a little twitter in my stomach. Using caller ID I called them back and explained that I was sorry to miss their call and that I was on the other line... She was a little surprised because she hadn't left a message, but quickly explained her predicament and I helped solve her clients problem. It turned out to be a whopper of a project billing over $20,000! It was one of the best projects that year.

Lesson... don't ignore the twitter...

I understand your business is probably not relying on incoming phone calls... but if it were

[David Hurley]

Hi Russell,

Nice result! I can see why you'd want to pick up the phone every time!

It is true that I work in a phone-free bubble! Here in Japan, if and when I recruit new students it seldom happens via telephone, or rather, the telephone is not the first point of contact but the final clincher.

[TannyL]

Why do you answer the phone?

I usually don't most of the time I let the phone ring and the other time my husband is answering, but sometimes you are waiting for a call...

My mom has to call 4 or 5 times before answer her, after 5 time, how else could it be

[Alan Mater]

Haha... awesome tips!

The second one is my favorite as well. A friend of mine did that once, and when I heard about it, I couldn't stop laughing!

I had a job for a local insurance company where I would call leads that were generated and then try to set appointments for the agents. Well, I got treated just like some of the examples above, even though these people sent a card in requesting the information! That job sucked. I could never be a telemarketer, which is different in that they don't have your permission to call them.

David - Relatives of mine do the same thing you do. They won't bother to answer and wait till the answering machine picks up. Well, the only way to get a hold of them is to start leaving a message and then they finally pick up. It's quite annoying to say the least.

[MattFS218]

Use caller id to your advantage. Sometimes telemarketers have useful business tools for you to use, so it doesn't always pay to be rude or hang-up on them.

You might consider setting up a separate "vendor" voice mail box. On the welcome message, state that you are really busy and that you receive many cold calls a day, but might be interested in the service they have to offer. State that you review the "vendor" voice mail box about every other week, and that you do actually listen to their pitches. Invite them to leave a message to be reviewed, an let them know that if you are interested in their product, you will return their call.

I think this is a fair balance between saving you time, not being interrupted by telemarketers but at the same time lettering those telemarketers try to get their message through to you.

--matt

[GT Bulmer]

Here's what I want to put on my message machine:

"Hello. I'm not available right now. Don't bother leaving a message - I'm using the telepathic phone messaging system now: you just "think" of the message you want to leave and when I see your number on my phone, I'll "think" about calling you back!"

GT

[TannyL]

Good one GT!

My father has a similar one: "Hi leave a message and I won't call you back, thanks"

Hi Matt,
Caller ID is great, when you look at the phone screen. I don't bother holding the phone next to me.
Mobile phones have the option to change the ringtone for different people, that's how I make the difference between, mom, dad, husband, friends and leeches.

[David Hurley]

When it comes to not answering the phone, a British friend of mine takes the buscuit... When I was in England just recently I tried to hook up with him but my email message bounced and when I called his office I got this message on the answering machine along the lines of:

"No one is available to take your call and you can't leave a message!" The machine then hung up!

[Alan Mater]

When I was making phone calls I received 2 different messages that really stood out...

Message 1: "We can't come to the phone right now. If you're a telemarketer please remove this number from your records. All other calls...." I never bothered to hear the rest because I wasn't allowed leaving messages anyway. I had to actually talk to the person.

Message 2: "This phone number is protected by Embarq Privacy Services (something like that). Please leave your name, phone number and reason for call, and the party you're trying to reach will determine if the call is important to them." I summarized, but you get the point. Embarq is a local phone company. I don't know if it's available nationwide or not. That's a new one on me, though.

I utilize caller ID on my cell. Unless it's a local number, I don't bother to answer. If it's important enough they'll leave a message. I use my cell for online and offline business since it has these capabilities as well as voicemail. Gotta love technology.

[julie_g18]

All these tips are genius! I hate telemarketers they never seem to get the message.. no one wants to talk to you.

Thanks so much i will be sure to use these great ideas in the future.