How to deal with telemarketers… or how telemarketing works

My story

Well. Let’s begin at the beginning.
In January last year I was hired by a telemarketing firm.
I had absolutely no clue about selling, and especially not over the phone.
I was fortunate enough to have some very intelligent mentors around me, and after six months I was literally able to sell anything to anyone, in less than 15 minutes.

That’s my story. Nearly a year after, thinking back at my time as a telemarketer, I get a bad taste in my mouth. I really did con people. And this is my way of saying I’m sorry, and hopefully help someone, to not be intimidated by these guys.

How can someone you never met sell you a product, over the phone?

“Isn't it funny - you hear a phone ringing and it could be anybody. But a ringing phone has to be answered, doesn't it?” (quote from phone boot).

Try this at home if you like, give some random number a call.
When the phone is answered, say you sorry, wrong number.
Redial. Wrong number. Redial. Wrong number. See for how long you can do this. You’ll be very surprised.

The basics of manipulation:

This is what telemarketers do. They manipulate.
It often sounds like arguing. But it is not. Skilled telemarketers choose every word with caution, and every word opens up a new door inside your brain. Its true.
In short, if you answered 10 random questions with yes, then you are very likely to answer question no. 11 with… yes.

Not only that, its harder to say no, and be rude to a friend of yours, someone you have empathy for, than it is to someone you don’t like.
And off course, telemarketers use this fact in their manipulation. They aint trying to sell you something, it just happens that they have this amazing offer, and since you are such a nice guy (or growing company, former customer or whatever), they are willing to give it to you. Aint they just the best...

Another technique they often use, is assuming the sale, before the sale is closed.
As soon as they have you on the phone, between the lines, they are assuming, that you have already said yes, and your subconsess get that… and after they have softened you up a bit, the difference between yes and no isn’t that big. All they have to do is to ask the right question at the right time, and another sale is put on the board.

In fact, most telemarketers are able to hear a change in tonality, when they have taken control, and then they strike. It is very difficult to explain, but I used to describe it as, “their voice is getting tender”.

How to avoid being caught up in the net

Most people say: “no telephone salesman could ever make me buy anything I haven’t seen first…”
Well… let me tell you, first off all, we really liked when someone as the above was on the other line.
They were the easiest, its like a shark feeding from the bottom of the sea.
It was so easy. These people thought they could argue us out of selling. They thought they were better than us, and just wanted to play with us, like a cat with a mouse.

But when they did realize, that it was us playing with them, it was too late. They were already cought in the net, you could say.

So rule no. 1: Hang up.
As soon as you realize that it is a telemarketer, hang up the phone.
If it is difficult for you to hang up a phone, do as they do. Get interrupted.
In the middle of a sentence, hang up. Or even better, disconnect while they are in a middle of a sentence.
Chances are that they are not listening, but only talking for most of the time, so when they realize that you have hung up on them, they probably wont bother calling back.

In fact there shouldn’t be any more rules. rule no. 1 should be efficient enough, and the guy in the other end of the line, is probably a lot more skilled than you at arguing, especially about the given product. Remember, that he spend a lot more time than you talking with angry people in the telephone. Lots of hours each day.
So, don’t try to argue with him, at some point or the other, chances are that he is going to win the argument enough times, to eventually get you to buy whatever he is selling.

If you can’t hang up the phone, then ask him to send something written to you. He’ll probably give you some speech about how he already did send something out, and as a follow-up, he is calling you.
Ask him to send it again. And hang up.

How do they make people sell like that?

I think that we can agree that this isn’t the most honourably thing to do for a living.
So the question is, how do these firms get young people to con people like that?

Manipulation. Yes. That’s right. The employers are manipulating the employees as well.
Often they act like role models, for these young folks, and drive around in big expensive cars, wasting money and so on, and so on…

I’ve been there. I’ve seen these guys, and I have seen young people keep working almost for free. Working towards a dream of financially independency, big fancy cars and clothes, spend money they didn’t have too keep up with the lifestyles of their employers.

In my salesroom, every time someone made a sale, there was this big bell, that you had to hit hard.
Everyone was clapping and hoeing, it was a fantastic feeling. We should all wear suits. After work we hit the bars and discos in the area, acting like hotshots. Our bosses would off course join us, and mostly it was on their initiative.
All of this was a way of manipulating all of us, to do their dirty work. To keep working, even though we didn’t get paid.

Summary

I really hope that in the future when the phone rings, and a salesman is on the other end, you’ll think tvice before saying yes to anything.

But as a kind of disclaimer, I think it is important to let you know, that all of the above, is my own personal experience, and I don’t believe that all telemarketing firms are like this.
I bet there are some of them, who actually, sell good products, and really accept a no.
But you have to ask yourself this. If the product they are selling, are so fantastic, why use telemarketing to sell it…?

I hope that you, at least, find my post interesting, and hopefully, you are able to use something from it sometime…

Have fun and enjoy life. Please.