David J.

Pollay

Read David's bio and previous columns

October 6, 2008

Don’t Let Telemarketers Make You Mad

Over the last few years I have heard more and more people complain about the telemarketing calls they receive at home, and now increasingly on their cell phones. I can understand why. I don’t like my dinner interrupted for a sales call, a marketing survey or a political poll either. The challenge I’ve noticed, however, is how we respond to these calls.

I often hear people boast about how they handle telemarketers. Each time they receive a call from a telemarketer, they shout: “Take me off your list!” Or they put the phone up to a radio and crank up the volume to “give it back” to the representative calling them. Or they say, “Give me your home phone number and I’ll call you!” In each instance they are pleased that they stuck it to the telemarketer.

There are two main problems with this approach. First, telemarketers are moms, dads, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, students: They are anyone who needs that job. And according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 2.2 million customer service representatives, and more than 350,000 telemarketers in this country alone. I know many of the people who work in these organizations, and I worked with them when I ran customer service centers. They’re good people. It is not fair to vent our frustration on them; they’re just doing their job.

And we often forget that many of the telemarketers who call us are volunteers. They are members of grassroots organizations that support our democracy. They encourage us to get involved in important causes, and they push us to get out and vote. Other people see it as their duty to make calls for their university, high school, nonprofit or local public radio and television stations.

Now, we still may not want to receive these calls, no matter what the cause. So what do we do?

I asked a director of a telemarketing company what is a fair and respectful way of letting a telemarketer know that we are not interested. Here was her advice: “Honesty works best. You can just say: ‘I support the other candidate. I do not support your cause. I already have your product. I do not give money over the phone.’ And you can politely interrupt the agent if they start reading a script. Say your few words, and then hang up the phone. When they know that you are truly not interested – as opposed to saying you’re ‘busy’ – they will not waste their time calling you back.”

Here’s another approach. Remember that most telemarketing companies use “automatic dialers” to serve up calls to a customer service agent. You’ll find that there is a delay between when you say “hello” and when an agent is connected to you. A simple way of avoiding the call is to hang up as soon as you hear the pause: You’ll save yourself, and the agent, time and frustration.

But what do we do if we really want to stop or reduce all these telemarketing calls? Go where the power is. Representatives in companies do not set policies and procedures. Leaders do. Talk to them. And if we want to limit the ability of telemarketers to do business, we should lobby our telecommunications providers, or advocate for change with our politicians.

The second problem with venting our anger every time we receive a telemarketing call is that we are virtually guaranteeing ourselves a daily dose of frustration. We are likely going to receive these calls for some time to come. So rather than get worked up each time we pick up the phone, we are better to let the telemarketers go on their way without conflict. And then, with no hesitation, we can put our attention right back on what matters most to us in our lives.

David J. Pollay’s book, Beware of Garbage Trucks!™, and his CD program, Gratitude Is Everything!™, are due out this Fall. Mr. Pollay is the creator of The Law of the Garbage Truck™ (www.bewareofgarbagetrucks.com). He is a syndicated columnist with the North Star Writers Group, creator and host of The Happiness Answer™ DVD, and an internationally sought after speaker. Mr. Pollay is the founder and president of the personal coaching and seminar organization, The Momentum Project (www.themomentumproject.com).

© 2008 David J. Pollay. Distributed by North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

Click here to talk to our writers and editors about this column and others in our discussion forum.

To e-mail feedback about this column, click here. If you enjoy this writer's work, please contact your local newspapers editors and ask them to carry it.

This is Column # DJP080. Request permission to publish here.