How to get the Telemarketers to Leave You Alone.

I know this is not a “techie” article, but it is something that I’ve wanted to write about for a very long time! Please read and enjoy because I feel that this information can make your home lives much more peaceful when it comes to the telephone.

You all know the drill. The phone rings, on your caller ID it states some number that you’ve never seen before. You pick up the phone and BANG! Now you’re trapped with this guy/gal that is just yapping and yapping without letting you get a word in edge-wise. I’m sure this usually ends with a hang up, telling the caller to forcibly insert something into a very uncomfortable place, or screaming at them. Yet, after all of this abuse, they still call you back! The nerve of those sons of bitches!

Allow me to give you some insight into the world of telemarketing…based on my own personal experiences. Yes, I have done this horrible job and never wish to return to it…NEVER! People are rude. Let me rephrase that, people that you call on the phone are rude. You are bothering them and they get pissed off. What they don’t realize is that you’re allowed to call them if you are a telemarketer and are calling for a company that had a previous relationship with that person.

Now, there is such a thing as the National Do Not Call Registry sponsored by the Federal Government. Their website is www.donotcall.gov and I encourage all of you to register every possible number that you have with that list. Now, here’s where the gray areas lie. If you are on that list, telephone sales people can still call you if there was a previous relationship established with the client. These companies have their own Do Not Call (DNC) lists and unless you specify, they are not going to willingly put you on it. The trick is, when one of these “scumbags” calls you, don’t be rude to them. Don’t swear and carry on a tantrum about them getting a real, respectable job. These people are just trying to get by just like everyone else in life and they have no choice of who they call. All of these phone numbers are stored in a computer system called a “dialer”.

How the dialer system works is quite simple. Telemarketing companies purchase “leads” from vendors such as Visa, Macy’s, Playboy and Maxim Magazines, etc. Because of those existing relationships, the marketing company is allowed to call you. Now, here is how you get rid of them.  When they call and you either don’t want to speak to them or don’t care about what they have to say; all you have to do is politely ask them to add your phone number to their DNC list.  After a week or so, your number will be removed from their dialer system and you won’t get anymore calls.  That’s pretty easy, huh?

Now, if you scream, hang up, let your answering machine get it, or are a real jerk, the Telemarketing Sales Representative (TSR) has the right and ability to mark your lead as “Not Home, Answering Machine, etc.” When that happens, your number is recycled and called again and again until it receives a disposition that tells the system not to call you anymore. So, the message is…don’t be a jerk to these people.  They’re trying to make a living too.  If your’e nice to them, they’ll be nice to you.  If they’re selling something, they need to hear a “No” from you at least three times before they are allowed to sign off.  The quickest way to get them off of the phone is by asking to get added to the DNC list.  They have to comply because all of their calls are on tape. Happy calling!

Focus: Microsoft OS Products, Computer Hardware
Credentials: MCP, A+, Network+, DCSE
MBA from Point Park University
BS from La Roche College