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Can I ask why?
I, like many others, I get a quite a number of telesales calls. I always try to be polite and usually listen to the caller before politely declining their offer. What really angers me is when I get asked “and can I ask why?” (This is a standard question entered into every telesales script). It is designed to make you backtrack and go on the defensive which in turn makes you more vunerable. I get very angry when I get asked to explain “why I am not interested”.
My tactic is to tell the caller that I do not have to give them a reason and then abruptly hang up.
I would love to get hold of the bright spark who dreamed up this question (which has now been adopted by every telesales person in this country) and kick his backside !! (:) (:)
Another thing I hate is withheld numbers. I wish the telephone companies would implement a feature allowing telphone users to reject any incoming calls where the number is withheld. This would get rid of all the nuisance callers.
Incidently, my business telephone number is supposed to be on BT’s “preference service” which purports to prevent unwanted incoming sales calls – but I still get them. BT could easily implement a system whereby I could reject the calls from withheld numbers but will not do so because of the revenue they would lose out on
OK .. That’s me finished ranting for today š
What annoys you š š
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16 Replies
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I agree with this , telesales are realy anoying …
quote :I wish the telephone companies would implement a feature allowing telphone users to reject any incoming calls where the number is withheldMy friend who has his own garage has a feature with BT that does this , i’m not sure how it works but i know he can block numbers from calling him and i also believe he can bar withheld numbers , i will find out for you tomorrow what he has ect
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Hello Phil
I know what you mean with telesales calls they are a pain, I too try to be polite as possible. I also try to have a little (only just a little!) sympathy as, I suppose they are only doing there job.
I think the most difficult calls you get are charities. They are all great charities and you want to donate to all the heart felt causes, but you have to draw a line with them. The people on the other end are very nice and it is very difficult to refuse.
We do donate on a regular basis to children’s charities at home and through the business but a line has to be drawn.
On the other part of witheld numbers, some of our customers are from large-ish companies and always have a hidden number, so this, for us could reate a problem!
How about when someone tries to fax you through the phone line and leaves it on auto-redial, now thats annoying. (:)
Cheers
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We have a lot of clients who withhold numbers as well.
Don’t worry about the charities Lamby. It’s all a con. The calls are from agencies who want to put your name in charity diaries, calendars, handbooks and the like. They are selling advertising and from every Ā£100 you pay the charirty will receive about fourpence.
As you say, you can’t give to them all. I agree it’s much better to pick your favourite ones and give to them direct. My own personal good cause is the RNLI.
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On any Sales course I’ve ever been on, (except one) one is taught to ask:
When, where, how, what, who but never WHY as it is considered aggressive. HOWEVER one course I attended gave a very valid reason for asking WHY?
The tutor said ‘When a child wants to know something he/she will pull at Mummies apron strings (or Daddies š ) and ask Why, why this why that…why, why….why? It’s a direct question that gets a direct answer, although in your case Phil probably not the answer they wanted š
In reality it should only be used in a sales situation once you have your victim, sorry customer eating out of the palm of your hand but refusing to sign the paperwork.
‘Ok Mr Rightsigns you like our prices, you want to order some stock but not this week……..may I ask WHY that is?’ ‘No XXXX off! š
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Politeness has gone out of the window with me. I`m sick to death of these telephone sales people. They are all cons.
If its not charitiy diarys its someone else. We must get 15-20 phone calls aday that are dodgey calls.
They`ve directly lied by saying ” we spoke to someone last month who promised to place an advert”
I`ve been offered first search on the web for 3K ayear..
We get calls trying to get us to change over to another fuel supplier..
We get callers wanting to “update” their data base with our details, for a free listing in a directory. Then try to sell a directory for Ā£150…
I`ve been told that, someone is trying to buy the same web address as me, but ending in .com. And the only way to stop them is to buy it myself…
They have even started to call in person to the shop..
All this takes up my time.. So when they start to go in to thier speach, I just say, “sorry not intrested, thankyou for calling” and put the phone down.
And faxes….. don`t get me started on those..
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When I hear the Schpiel : “hi Im Mandy and……” (I can mostly recognise the boiler plate type sales card they are reading off) I just ask:
“Are you wanting to buy something from us or sell us something?”
If they hesitiate or obfustucate or dont answer the question directly , I ask again and on the 2nd umm or ahh or hesitiation or “I’m not really selling but….” , I hang up.The problem is that some of them have my name and get thru to me despite my staff screening my calls.
I really hate telemarketing , unsolicited faxes (My paper , my toner for their “lose weight fast” ad – and if they dont stop sending it , a computer generated 100 page of black document sent back to them ususally sorts it out) and spam (How do they know Im bald , small breasted, have a teeny willy, need viagra or prozac and am a porn site freak?)
Coming a close second are photocopied letters asking for donations where your name ot “The Manager” is inserted on the dotted line.
Of course the “how much is a badge/trophy/sign?” type caller doesnt make life much better:) -
Came back after xmas/new break once to find A WHOLE ROLL of fax paper had bee used, all for crap advertising, holidays, diets, cheap mobiles etc etc so in a fit I tried to teach my fax machine to fly, err unfortunately a brick wall interfered with its first attempt š so now I use a bit of software called Supervoice and this takes my faxes and then I can delete them at will, cuts down on paper.
Telesales people, my tactic is to ask for their home numbers, when asked why I tell them its so “I can ring you and waste your time too” -
We also use a fax software, ours is called Winfax. Its actually quite satisfying deleting them!!!
Cheers
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3 ways to deal with phone sales people, try them and report back if you dare to give them ago or if you think of anything better.
Rule 1. Sell them something.
When they are in full flow interrupt them and say “excuse me Sorry to interrupt but What type of sign are you looking for ”they answer something like ” im not looking for a sign ”
you say “Why are you not interested in a sign you phoned a feckin sign company……….derrrrrrrrrr hang up
Rule 2. Call me back
Ask them to call you back on your mobile, as you are expecting an important call from the hospital reference your throat cancer results.
If they do call back on your mobile ask them to hold a moment while you carry on with your work making the odd throat clearing sound and cough every now and then. leave them for 5 minutes holding ……….derrrrrrrrrr hang up
If there call costs go up maybe they will think twice in the long run. and if they have a conscience they may go get another job.Rule 3 glad to be speaking to someone
If your board listen to the blurb and sound interested make the odd reference to what a lovly voice they have let them go right to the end of the speech sounding ever so interested dropping in the odd well you do sound ever so clever or my freind David wet the bed last night .and just at the point when they think they have you or are making the appointment to send the guy that’s in your area tomorrow round say sorry I cant speak any more
the nurse is here to give me my medication now………derrrrrrrrrrrrrr hang up -
To stop faxes…..
Contact the Fax Preference Service. They dropped my fax receipts from three per day to three per year. Brilliant.
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I put my tel number on a tel preference register. The one I chose doesn’t cost me a penny.
Took about three weeks to kick in but it has reduced unsolicited calls hugely
To put your telephone number on the TPS register call 0845 070 0707, or go to http://www.tps-online.org.uk
Try this link from the above, for mail and fax junk
try it guys
I’m glad I did š š -
Hello Sir, how are you?
Fine..
If you could have 2, 4 or 6 Windows replaced completely Free of Charge how many would you have?
None…..
NONE?
No, I have new windows……
How old?
3 months…..
Wooden or UPVC?
Wooden, I like wood…..
You have to paint them Sir?
I like painting?
You have to paint them every 2 years?
I like to change the colour…….
Oh, I see………….if you could have 2, 4 or 6 windows that you don’t have to paint, no arguing with the missus about the colour….completely Free of charge how many would you have?
Your not listening to me are you?
Ye sir I am…….have you got a Conservatory?
Yes.
It’s wooden isn’t it sir?
Yes.
If we could offer you a UPVC Conservatory that you don’t have to paint with a discount of 10, 15 or 10 per cent which would you prefer?
None.
NONE? You can’t tell me you like painting bloody conservatories as well?
Ok, what about your Fascias?
Wooden
Do you like climbing ladders sir?
No not particularly……
Well you may be interested in our decorating division. Can we send someone round to give you a quote to paint everything!
And he was serious too! š
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And my all time favorite……..
“WHAT PART OF NO DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND”!!!! (:) (:) (:)
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I kept getting calls from Sky. Sick to the back teeth with it I was asked that question Why. So I told him I didn’t agree with sky policies and didn’t like paying for something I wouldn’t use very often.
Haven’t heard from them again as yet (fingers crossed)
BT do supply a service to stop withheld numbers but they charge Ā£3.30 per month to do this!
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We used to get pestered by lots of (supposed) charities saying they apologised for the delay in artwork blah blah blah…
We simply tell them they are lying and we didn’t agree to anything and they must remove us from their database. they have to do this by law.
We haven’t had any for about 12 months or so now.keith
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I donāt know if anyone has had this one yet,
I got a call from the āsukumo groupā or something like that.
They had been given my name or my name had shown up so many times in their search for trading online, again, something like that.
Anyway, they were calling from Japan, āsounded very professionalā polite etc
Japanese spoken and delay etc in the call because of distance.
In a nutshell they wanted me to invest in shares. Shares they recommended.. These shares were for medical research into the same drug used to help Christopher reeves
Blah blah blahā¦ at first I wasnāt sure so I just said I was busy.
I then had about 3 calls that week from similar named groups, they left messages.
They finally got hold of me and we talked. I was on a tea break so decided to go along with itā¦
I told them I was interested, would be willing to put up Ā£15000 initially blah blah blah.. the guy was hitting me with everything in the book I thinkā¦ she was very excited. (hot)
If itās wasnāt a wind up I did well bluffing my way through itā¦
š If it was, these people sounded very convincing.. In the end I told him I was skint & up to my eyes in debt.. They didnāt sound pleased. š š šHavenāt had any more callsā¦
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