How to handle telephone spamming?

by Karel Thönissen

Don't we all hate it when people call us trying to sell us their financial products, newspaper subscriptions, pension funds, etc.? They call you just when you are having dinner, because they know that most people are at home that time of the day.

The type of customer they like best is the customer that orders their product. Fine, if this is with mutual agreement, then the customer will not perceive this as an intrusion. I am not that type of customer, but I used to be the type of customer they like second-best: I used to cut off their sales pitch within the first 10 seconds of the conversation. They love customers like these, because this avoids them having to invest time in a customer who is not willing to buy; it gives them the time to proceed to the next customer.

Now I have become their worst type of customer, and I urge you to do the same. I do not buy, yet I make sure that I take as much of their time as possible. If you have the time try to determine the background of the call center operator and what he earns. Perhaps create a standard script to guide you through the conversation. They have a script too and it gets funny when two people are each trying to follow their own script.

A second option is this: tell them you are perhaps interested, but that you are always busy at that time of the day. Ask them to call you back at an impossible time, e.g. 23:00h, knowing that this is very difficult for them. When and if they call back, you cut off immediately.

My favorite technique is this: when they call me I interrupt them immediately and ask them to hold on. My telephone has a nice hold tone, the kind of tone you hear when you are placed on hold in a call centre. Then I do the dishes, which takes about 10 minutes. Then (if I remember 8-) I go back to the phone and tell them I am not interested. It costs me nothing, saves a few other people their calls, and if I am lucky, I will be placed on their black-list.

Of course, I will never again buy from a company that made an intrusive call and I always ask to be removed from their lists.