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The Worst Sales Call You Have Received

by Craig Fenton
21 replies
Hi Warriors:

Hope the week is going well.

I had to pass this on because you would think in a rough economy people would Pretend to care about potential clients.

Yesterday there is a message for me that a book promotional company wants to give me publicity for one of my works "Jefferson Starship- Have You Seen The Stars Tonite."

The lady that left the voice mail got the title of the book wrong, didn't give the name of her company, and its a well known fact that when you leave a message to mention you got the phone number from **** at the publishers office (she didn't do that either).

It is laughable that somebody wouldn't take 1 minute to write down the name of the book so they could sound a bit legit on the phone.

Everyone have a fantastic day!
#call #received #sales #worst
  • Profile picture of the author OnlineMarketingSys
    The worst sales calls I received were from drunk college kids trying to sell newspaper subscriptions. I remember trying to get one to give me the benefits of buying his subscription, and "he was like aw hell man, do you want to subscribe or not".

    Other than that, my buddy had a steam cleaner wanting to schedule a free room cleaning and called him 5 times after he mentioned he had hardwood floors and wasn't interested.
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Online:

      That is unreal, somebody would be stupid enough to call you when under the influence of alcohol and with an attitude. What is college teaching them?

      Have a great day!
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      • Profile picture of the author OnlineMarketingSys
        Originally Posted by Craig Fenton View Post

        Hi Online:

        That is unreal, somebody would be stupid enough to call you when under the influence of alcohol and with an attitude. What is college teaching them?

        Have a great day!
        Obviously they are more focused on drinking than learning. It was pretty horrible, there was all kinds of ruckus in the background you can tell they packed these kids in their like sardines. And even when you tried to actually help them they were upset that you were actually making them do their jobs.
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      • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
        Originally Posted by Craig Fenton View Post

        That is unreal, somebody would be stupid enough to call you when under the influence of alcohol and with an attitude. What is college teaching them?
        How to drink and spend their way into bankruptcy so they can be on the fast-track for a career in politics.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
    I responded to an opportunity that I was interested in yesterday. I called the phone number and left a message. About 3 hours later I get a call and I see that the caller ID says bla bla moble RV Park. I am curious so I pick it up.

    It's the people calling me back about my message. I begin to listen to the pitch and I think the person has some sort of idiot syndrome because they are not speaking succinctly.

    They give me a web address which ends up re-directing to a google page and I ask them why they are using google to make their web sites? The reply was, oh we've been doing it this way for years.

    I asked, how long have you been internet marketing and making money online? 30 years was the reply. lol

    I hung up immediately.
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Rus:

      That is a funny story. If they have been on the internet 30 years (even if they don't make money) they not only invented it but did it years before any other folks knew they invented it!

      This is why so many people enjoy hanging out with their dogs.

      Have a fantastic day!
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    A lot of companies are hiring virtual marketers now and don't even know who's making phone calls.

    The ones that just make me furious are the recorded messages. These people don't even feel they have the time to call you personally. How far they expect to get when the first thing their recorded messages say is "please hold for this important message" when you don't even know what or who you are holding for is just beyond what I can fathom. These idiots are even going through no-call lists.

    Is it really only other marketers that act like thinking humans when faced with marketing calls?
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Sal:

      Thanks for the response and good morning.

      You brought up something I forgot to mention (thank you). Not in my example with the promotional company because I am sure they went through the publisher but many times I get calls on the home/cellular phone even though I made sure to be on every don't call list that exists.

      The best pre-recorded calls are those that can't even market the proper clients such as home equity loans to a renter, credit counseling when somebody is debt free, car warranty when you are still covered by the manufacturer, etc.

      Caller I.D. was on of the great inventions in the history of the planet!

      Be well!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
    I got a sales call a couple months back. As soon as I figured out what he had in mind, I told him "no thank you." He kept talking, so I said "no thank you" again but this time I hung up.

    Phone rings. It's him again, saying, "but you don't even know what I'm calling about!"

    (*sniff, sniff* Sounds like someone is desperate and probably working on a commission.)



    cheers,
    Becky
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Becky:

      I like the part about you hanging up!

      Have a great day and please continue to put the phone down!!!
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    • Profile picture of the author HeySal
      Originally Posted by R Hagel View Post

      I got a sales call a couple months back. As soon as I figured out what he had in mind, I told him "no thank you." He kept talking, so I said "no thank you" again but this time I hung up.

      Phone rings. It's him again, saying, "but you don't even know what I'm calling about!"

      (*sniff, sniff* Sounds like someone is desperate and probably working on a commission.)



      cheers,
      Becky
      Holy Crap, Becky - you sound like a saint! I have found the best and most reliable way to get taken off a call list is to become so obscene and verbally abusive when a company calls that THEY take YOU off their list. LOL. Not one other thing they can do about it because THEY are calling YOU and if they don't like your responses, the answer is simply - don't call.
      And many won't after a go around with me.
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      Sal
      When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
      Beyond the Path

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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

        I have found the best and most reliable way to get taken off a call list is to become so obscene and verbally abusive when a company calls that THEY take YOU off their list.
        My favorite tactic is to interrupt the sales associate midway through their pitch with "are you reading a script?" and if they are I start giving them tips on how to improve it. If they're not, I advise them to write one. After about five minutes of "free advice", I start actively pitching my own services as a business consultant.

        The holy grail of this, which I've only gotten a couple of times, is when the associate gets frustrated and asks me to take them off my list. I pause for a moment, then say "but you called me."

        In any case, I rarely get a call back from the same company.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kevin Caldbeck
          Howdy

          This was some time ago, but when I lived in Denver I had a guy from a local service company call me with his sales pitch. I forget exactly what it was he was selling, but I was bored so I kept him talking.

          Well after awhile I got the conversation turned on him, and got him to come into the dealership I was working for, and sold him a car.

          I don't think he, or his boss had that in mind when he called me.

          Kevin
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Two come to mind...

            A very classy-sounding woman kept calling about some home service, I forget what. After politely telling her no, she would always end the call with, "well, maybe another time" and hang up.

            I finally got fed up, and told her, "What part of 'no, thank you' is so hard to understand? It's only three f***ing syllables. How do I need to say no so you stop calling me?"

            "I'll stop calling, but you, sir, are rude!"

            "Thanks for finally getting it. And you, ma'am, are a pain in the ass..."

            Never heard from her again.

            The other one was one of those 'bargain travel' scams. Guy with a really thick eastern-Europe accent calls and tells me I can get this wonderful vacation for only $79, and launches into a description.

            I keep interrupting to say I'm not interested, he keeps getting more aggressive and downright nasty. Finally, he says, "you know what, I don't think you deserve this vacation. I should cancel the offer right now."

            "You're right, I don't deserve it..." <click>

            About as fast as you can say "redial", the phone rings again. Same guy...

            "Did you f***ing hang up on me?" Now he's pissed...

            Back to his pitch. Seems he's decided to give me another chance.:rolleyes:

            Finally I told him I couldn't take the vacation, but I had a friend who might want it, did he mind if I made it a three way call? No problem...

            I dialed the county sheriff's office and briefly told them what was happening. One of the deputies got on the line with me.

            "I have my friend Dan on the line with us"

            "Hi, Dan, what's your full name?"

            "Deputy Dan Johnson, County Sheriff's office. Do you mind if I record this call?"

            <click>...
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            • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
              Hi John:

              Hope all is well today. Great story calling the Sheriff's Office! Hopefully if nothing else the guy stopped bothering you and didn't dial anywhere in your vicinity again.

              Enjoy the weekend!
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas
    An easy way to deal with almost any unwanted caller (unless they already know your voice) is to simply answer the phone and say "Hello". Don't say your name... let them say, "Is that X?"

    Say, "No, but hang on... I'll see if I can get him for you."

    Leave the phone down (without hanging up) and go about your business.

    After about 5 minutes (usually less), they'll realise that nobody is going to come back to them and they'll hang up.

    They rarely all back but, if they do, just say, "Oh, you didn't get him the last time? Ok, hang on... I'll just go get him now..."

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  • Profile picture of the author lakeview
    One reason why I enjoy online marketing is not being required to make constant marketing calls all day. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy talking with people. I just want to have conversations with people on friendly terms, not them trying to sell me something or vice versa.

    This is one of the funniest telemarketer calls I've ever heard.

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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by Craig Fenton View Post

      Hi John:

      Hope all is well today. Great story calling the Sheriff's Office! Hopefully if nothing else the guy stopped bothering you and didn't dial anywhere in your vicinity again.

      Enjoy the weekend!
      It turned out that he was already in the cross-hairs of several Attorneys General. Last I heard, he was taking a nice long vacation courtesy of the State of California. When he gets out, there's four other states that want to host him for awhile...
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      • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
        The worst sales "call" I had was 9 years ago. I just moved into a brand new house on a brand new estate. The front doorbell rang and a young man in a suit asked if I would like to purchase replacement double glazing or doors.

        He was working his way down the street. You had to feel sorry for him.
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  • Profile picture of the author milan
    My worst call: Got a call around 3AM my time. Needless to say, it didn't last long and he didn't sell me the internet marketing consultation by Keith ...... but he woke up my wife and baby.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    Those message calls are robocalls, and I read an article about how most of the companies doing them are based in St. Louis, MO and it's just like spam email, accept by phone. And just like those spammers that spam millions per day, they do have an extremely low conversion rate, but those stupid enough to follow through and call back or whatever and buy their BS make it actually very profitable for them. I hate those robocalls, but at least it's easier to hang up on them then a real person.
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