Telemarketers Are People Too
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Other strategies for dealing with telemarketers I've come across are "counterscripts", legal countermeasures, and wasting their time, automated virtual conversations (a variation of the time-waster using your computer), and even pretending to be a voice mail script ("Press 1 if you're conducting a survey, press 2 ..."
But I had an opportunity to sit down to dinner with a couple of university students who earn their rent by telemarketing. These are bright, funny, hard-working kids who need a way to make a living. So I asked them what some of their funniest phone calls had been.
First off, "Why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you back during your supper" is getting old. They've heard it. It's not funny anymore. The more interesting conversations they've had are:
- "I'm standing in front of my living room window in my bra and panties . . . Oh! I thought you were somebody else!"
- "Sure I'll take your survey, just a sec . . . " [sound of the Lord's prayer, sound of holy communinion, sound of more prayer.] At this point she gave up and went to the next call.
- "You have a sexy voice. I bet you're good looking . . . " [ewww]
- "Only if it really takes a minute. I have to take my wife to the hospital. Her water just broke and she's having a baby." (The survey was completed in 45 seconds.)
CultureHack Telemarketing
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