Telemarketers

[Mahone]

Dear telemarketers/sales people

Please don't be surprised when you cannot get put though to me, and you get repeatedly told that I'm in meetings/at lunch/dead on each of your daily calls to the office. Please understand that we regularly get in excess of 40 sales calls per day, and it's unreasonable for me to take them all, I have work to do.

Please don't claim that it's a personal call in an attempt to trick the operator into putting the call through - we tend to get irate when this happens. Do not start a phone conversation with "don't worry, I'm not trying to sell anything" when it's a blatant lie.

Please don't leave messages on my answer machine that are vague enough to sound like a legitimate issue that needs urgent attention, turning out to be selling a product that vaguely relates in some convoluted way to the issue you mentioned - you may trick me once, but you'll never have a chance to do it again.

Please don't then turn up to our office unexpectedly/without appointment at possibly one of the busiest moments of the year and claim you were just "passing through the area" and thought you'd pop in for a friendly chat (although if you do, bring donuts).

Please don't complain to the company when you are told to leave, because you didn't have permission/an appointment to be there.

When I want your business, I'll contact you.

/rant

[Smudge]

My mother goes all Bible basher on them especially if they call on a sunday

[jerome1232]

I have a product that I think you will be very interested in.

[Vort]

I usually try to listen patiently to telemarketers, unless they call on Sunday. Then I interrupt them immediately and tell them, "I don't take any such calls on Sunday."

[Jennarator]

I am a receptionist, and I have to try to rout these calls. they don't seem to get the hint when they go to voice mail ALL the time, or yes, that they are ALWAYS in a meeting. I can stop those sales calls a mile away, and I don't pass them through to the rest of the staff.

[Anddenex]

What disturbs me is when people who respond this way also have telemarketers that substantially provide their paychecks.

"Stop calling me, I hate you guys." Yet, they have no problem with their sales team doing the same thing.

What people don't realize, if it is a business to business call, if you actually answer the phone, and say "No" they will stop calling as much and may not even call you for the rest of the year, or you may only receive a call every six months.

[skippy740]

My notes for salespeople are in red below:

Dear telemarketers/sales people

Please don't be surprised when you cannot get put though to me, and you get repeatedly told that I'm in meetings/at lunch/dead on each of your daily calls to the office. Please understand that we regularly get in excess of 40 sales calls per day, and it's unreasonable for me to take them all, I have work to do.

The only way to solve this... is to fill your pipeline with more prospects, so you don't generate an annoyance around yourself in your prospect's mind. Also, be sure that you are providing relevant information on problems that you can help solve... and provide that information on a regular basis. When the time is right... they'll contact you, if you've kept in touch. Don't leave your telephone number. If you're sending information, they have it... or, if they 'round filed' it, they'll get it next time.

Please don't claim that it's a personal call in an attempt to trick the operator into putting the call through - we tend to get irate when this happens. Do not start a phone conversation with "don't worry, I'm not trying to sell anything" when it's a blatant lie.

Exactly. Selling an appointment is still selling. Asking for someone's time IS asking for their money, because time = money, particularly for a business.

Please don't leave messages on my answer machine that are vague enough to sound like a legitimate issue that needs urgent attention, turning out to be selling a product that vaguely relates in some convoluted way to the issue you mentioned - you may trick me once, but you'll never have a chance to do it again.

I hate this too. Just leave a courteous message with your name. Don't leave your phone number. Leaving your phone number is like saying "tag, you're it, call me back"... and you know they won't... so don't plant the annoyance in their mind in the first place.

Please don't then turn up to our office unexpectedly/without appointment at possibly one of the busiest moments of the year and claim you were just "passing through the area" and thought you'd pop in for a friendly chat (although if you do, bring donuts).

If a sales person stops by, make it quick. You don't have to ask to see a decision maker. You can just drop off some relevant information and leave. Take the visual cues around you and figure out what's going on. If they're busy making money... LET them.

Please don't complain to the company when you are told to leave, because you didn't have permission/an appointment to be there.

This is what happens when sales people are too dense to realize what is going on around them in someone else's business.

When I want your business, I'll contact you.

/rant

[Mahone]

What disturbs me is when people who respond this way also have telemarketers that substantially provide their paychecks.

We don't.

"Stop calling me, I hate you guys." Yet, they have no problem with their sales team doing the same thing.

We don't have any.

What people don't realize, if it is a business to business call, if you actually answer the phone, and say "No" they will stop calling as much and may not even call you for the rest of the year, or you may only receive a call every six months.

Not true. I attempted this when I first started in the role, but I spent so much of my time on the phone that I barely had time to do what I was actually employed to do - the 40+ calls per day from telemarketers was not an exaggeration, if anything the number is higher.

I also don't take kindly to the devious tactics employed by so many of these sales teams in order to get through to me. If they lie, or purposely stretch the truth, I will never want to do business with them.

As I stated before, if I want to buy something, I will do my own research and contact them. If they are good at what they do, I would hear about them through other connections/word of mouth. They do not need to contact me.

Phoning is also very intrusive - it demands my attention right there and then, regardless of what else I might be doing. If they have to contact me, at least do it via a method that doesn't require my immediate attention.

Edited April 26, 2013 by Mahone

[Wordnerd]

Telemarketers also need to realize that the unimportant receptionist they just lied to (can I talk to boss man, we have a big construction project to discuss) can sometimes be the wife of boss man and co owner of the company, and we will not buy anything from you now.

[skippy740]

As I stated before, if I want to buy something, I will do my own research and contact them. If they are good at what they do, I would hear about them through other connections/word of mouth. They do not need to contact me.

First, I'm agreeing with your post.

However, with this part, I want to ask you a question:

- What if the solution they are providing could really help you in your business?

- What if they could solve a problem that you didn't even know about?

You see, if that is the case, then you won't be searching online for them... when you don't know what you don't yet know.

Salespeople, until the internet, has been a great source of information of innovation and advancement.

Sales tactics have not changed, even though the world has. We are in the information age, not the 'intrusive sales tactics' age of the 70's. Salespeople need to adapt in order to survive and thrive. That's why I recommended articles and relevant information to be dropped off and delivered on a regular interval basis.

[Anddenex]

Not true. I attempted this when I first started in the role, but I spent so much of my time on the phone that I barely had time to do what I was actually employed to do - the 40+ calls per day from telemarketers was not an exaggeration, if anything the number is higher.

Is true, if you are dealing with a honest business practice. The places I worked, I never called a person more than two times a year (some specifically through conversation I would find out not to call them in two years and I wouldn't contact them until two years later), unless specified otherwise in our phone conversation to contact them sooner. If they didn't, we called once a week, and then every other week, and then once a month, and so on.

If they are good at what they do, I would hear about them through other connections/word of mouth. They do not need to contact me.

Not true. I spoke with too many people who said, "Only if you would have called me a week earlier." You can do all the research you want, but at times, with all the good research you do, you don't find the best opportunity or product and people settle for less.

[Mahone]

First, I'm agreeing with your post.

However, with this part, I want to ask you a question:

- What if the solution they are providing could really help you in your business?

- What if they could solve a problem that you didn't even know about?

You see, if that is the case, then you won't be searching online for them... when you don't know what you don't yet know.

I understand what you're saying, but it wouldn't just be through research as and when I want a product.

Most people in my field regularly attend conferences as part of their career. Conferences are a great way of learning about the most recent advances, and what others are doing. Sales teams are usually all over these.

Online forums and communities dedicated to this field are also popular, not just for resolving issues but for keeping up with day to day relevant information. One forum I regulate in particular has paid sponsers, that are well respected within that forum community, and I often look at their lastest offers simply because of the feedback others are giving about them online.

Both of the above are non-intrusive, but effective ways of marketing. A phone call is simply not necessary.

[Mahone]

Not true. I spoke with too many people who said, "Only if you would have called me a week earlier." You can do all the research you want, but at times, with all the good research you do, you don't find the best opportunity or product and people settle for less.

This would probably work with a company that only received one or two sales calls a day. There is not a chance I'm going to be able to spot a good deal via the phone with the sheer volume we receive.

[pam]

Usually I will listen to a telemarketer because I realize that the person is doing a job and may be trying to support a family. Then I politely let them know I'm not interested and if they could put me on their Do Not Call list.

[skippy740]

DNC laws do not have to apply to business numbers. Although it would be stupid to ignore such a request.

[pam]

DNC laws do not have to apply to business numbers. Although it would be stupid to ignore such a request.

I was speaking about my personal phone. Luckily I don't take the calls for business. :)

[cornelia]

I know where you're coming from. I get a lot of unsolicited calls and they're definitely annoying. Like what you do, I let the answering machine take anonymous calls. At other times, when I'm not too busy, I pull pranks on them. And it always makes me feel good when the callers become frustrated after they realized I have wasted their precious time. 99% of the time, they never call back. I find these pranks more effective than being on the DNC list.

[cornelia]

And I never run out of fun ideas to annoy the callers. I get my tips from Top 14 Ways To Annoy Telemarketers. I suggest you try them, too. It's such a e stress-reliever!

[Aworkinprogress]

That's encouraging people to lie. It's a lot easier to not answer the phone, let your machine get it or hang up.

[Guest]

The next time you receive a sales call, think of all our young men and women out on the mission field trying to talk to people who do not want to hear what they have to say. How you want these people to treat our missionaries is how you would want to treat those sales calls. Because, at the end of the day, they're just trying to do their jobs in the best way they know how - no matter how inefficient their methods are.

It is always good to stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking about others once in a while.

[Mahone]

The next time you receive a sales call, think of all our young men and women out on the mission field trying to talk to people who do not want to hear what they have to say. How you want these people to treat our missionaries is how you would want to treat those sales calls. Because, at the end of the day, they're just trying to do their jobs in the best way they know how - no matter how inefficient their methods are.

It is always good to stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking about others once in a while.

This thread wasn't based around a standard sales call. It's based around those many telemarketers that are invasive, stretching the truth or blatantly lying in order to get through to the optimum person for their selling needs.

If our missionaries behaved in this manner, I would expect them to get treated in exactly the same way, and in my opinion, they'd deserve it. I would hope no mission president would encourage or condone these tactics.