Whereas many thought that working in a call centre would give me extra grace for those that cold call me, I haven’t really done that. Much like my attitude in a bar, I’m that slight touch more critical. I guess when you start learning how to do something you are quicker to see faults, strengths, and supposedly polite comments that are laced with attitude.
Effective Approach:
- Don’t just hang up, Colin the cold caller will just call and re-pitch you later.
- Be polite but firm, wrestling control of the conversation away from Colin.
- Ask where he got your number from, Colin probably won’t know.
- Make sure you request being taken off/excluded from their database.
- Wish them a nice day.
Other approaches:
- With an unsolicited call you have the right to talk about what you like.
- With all politeness distract Colin from what he’s pitching, and have a friendly chat.
- Offer a sing-a-long to a quick acapella rendition of ‘Tie me kangaroo down sport’.
Remember:
- It is not the same person each time you get a cold call.
- They are not the face of the loathsome industry harassing you.
- Getting irate is ridiculous, they’ll probably just laugh at you.
- They could well be stressed and you could be the straw breaking a camel’s back.
Most importantly:
- There is always TPS, it should be free from your telephone provider, so use it.
My favourite is to tell the caller that I am not interested in buying any cheese. I find this very effective with calls from telecoms companies calling from Mumbai. As they usually get confused and hang up.
Nice one bro, what do other people do?
I know a guy who tells them he’s very interested but also very busy and that they should call back later. Then he just doesn’t answer his landline for 2 or 3 weeks. It makes him hard to get hold of sometimes, but it seems to work.
i always ask ‘Matt, is that you? and have you got that forty quid you owe me? :P’
the ladies are always a bit indignant
shouldn’t have such gruff voices
My dad always shouts “Bollocks” really loud and then just hangs up. The problem is that with 7 kids that only really tend to phone him to ask for money, sometimes he gets mixed up.