The Entrepreneur's Bible: Business at its Best

Humor in Telemarketing

In 15 years of telesales/telemarketing experience I have heard all kinds of funny stories.  But this latest story comes from Elinor Stutz, CEO, Smooth Sale, LLC, a sales training company:

Last week a person obviously new to telemarketing called to enroll me in a business program.  Errors made:
1.    No research was done prior to the call.  He knew nothing about my business or me.  Most importantly, he failed to realize that I already took the course!
2.    Caller did not apologize for the error.
3.    Caller only after a few minutes asked what I did.  Upon my announcing I am “a sales trainer” he chose to ignore my answer and kept on talking.
4.    Fatal error – he used words from a script on me:  “If I were able to…, how would you feel…?”  At this point, I said I would have no feelings one way or the other because I am uninterested, and he would be far better off calling someone who is new to the program and that he might consider sales training.

Remember that when you have someone telemarketing/teleselling for your company he/she is just an extension of your brand — make sure he/she is well-trained and provides a solid image.

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2 Responses to Humor in Telemarketing

  1. Golly I thought that behavior was the norm – has Elinor actually encountered a telemarketer who did do some homework before calling her? ….

    Or have any of your readers?

    Mind you I am not a cynic but our office receives about 5 such calls a day, ask to be removed from their list… have done the online removal request….

    oh I think I’m going to turn my mind to more cheerful topics covered by Wasabi V
    Kare

  2. Elinor says:

    Two answers to Kare’s response to my blog:
    1. Positive thinking: Perhaps I trained some of the tele-marketers over the phone
    2. The cynical side (like Kare) admits most of the tele-marketing I receive is taped, so I simply hang up! “No Call list?” How do you spell that?!

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