OK, I’ll concede on the Telemarketers/Commercials thing. The comparisons I was making were minor ones, and I neglected the differences.
But one thing about the DNC list–it’s not universal. There’s no single list that you can get on keeping all telemarketers from getting your number. Most telemarketing companies are hired out by clients who want their product sold “directly” and are given their phone lists by that company.* They’re programmed into a computer, called at random, and there you go. If you ask to be taken off the list, you get taken off that list. I wish there were another way, and there’s legislation in the works to make it so. For each company that calls, there’s a new DNC list to get put on to.
And is answering the phone really that inconvenient? We’re not Pavlov’s dogs, people–if the bell rings, we don’t need to salivate–many of you have said “the phone is there for my convenience, and nobody else’s.” I agree with that, which is why when mine rings, I don’t rush to answer it unless I’m expecting a call. If I’m outside, or in the bathroom, or fixing dinner, I let it ring; I take my time, I screen my calls, because there’s a chance I don’t want to talk to whomever is calling. If it’s really important, they’ll leave a message–I can’t be the only one with voice mail.
For all of you saying you get three, four, a hundred and eleventy-'leven calls a day, how many of those are from people who are actually polite? I get calls a lot also (there’s no insider group–even ex-telemarketers are not immune), and the vast majority of the people I am forced to take a minute and a half of my precious time for won’t even rebut when I tell them I’m not interested. Hell, I was the nicest telemarketer a lot of people spoke to,** but part of my job was to take a standard rejection and have be able to refute it.
Sure, there are a lot of rude telemarketers out there. But you don’t have to deal with them. “I’m not interested, thanks. <click>” is effective, and takes no more than seven seconds, even if you talk slowly. There are a lot of rude people at Wendy’s, your bank and the mall too…walking out on them is a lot more inconvenient and time-consuming.
There was one who did rebut. Over and over. And would interrupt my telling him I’m not interested (which, at the company I had worked for would get a fellow fired). He even interrupted me when I was telling him to take me off his list. I ended up complaining to his supervisor, and hoping like mad I put the little shit-stain out of a job. But he was an exception, not the rule.
And for the indescribable fuckwads comparing telemarketers to murderers and rapists (I can’t believe there wasn’t a dogpile for that–why not compare them to Hitler while you’re at it? Tell you what, I’ll even allow a suspension of Godwin’s Law :rolleyes: ), and those who say, “get a real job, because only ignorant trailer trash works in telemarketing,” Fuck. You. Twice. With a traffic cone. So I’m worthless scum who doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air that you do? Just because the company I used to work for had layoffs?*** And after six months of jobhunting in my field and not getting hired even on the rare occasion I found somewhere to apply(it’s the economy, stupid!).
The only place that would hire me did so on the spot, based solely on the fact that I could read a script and have a great voice.
For $7 an hour.
That’s half of what I had been making in my field. But without benefits.
And with the knowledge that compared to the only job I could find at the time, Shyster Lawyers, greasy Used-car Salesmen and Pimps hold a higher social standing. And I had to deal with people who didn’t know how to behave on the phone even before they know who’s calling, kids who shout for Mommy without covering the mouthpiece, people who chew with their mouths open (which bugs the shit out of me in real life; It’s even worse on the phone. My friends know that if they’re on the phone with me and they’re eating, I’ll hang up) and a dozen other things that I had to deal with on the phone which had nothing to do with the fact that I was a telemarketer.
It’s a shit job. Telemarketers know they’re in the most hated profession in the world, and they’re not proud of what they do. Any telemarketer who claims to enjoy it is lying. But someone’s gotta do it. They really do–Corporate America demands it.
[sub]*Many of these companies that you love do market research. The Gap, Barnes and Noble, Magazine Publishers, your friendly neighbourhood credit card company…They find that a surprising number of people do buy over the phone. If they didn’t, how long do you think telemarketing would have lasted? These companies aren’t stupid; they wouldn’t hire a marketing firm of any sort which does not make money for them.
**Yes, I was a nice telemarketer–if someone sounded sick, I gave them sympathy, if they sounded busy (talking fast, interrupting me with “uh-huh…yeah”) I’d ask them if we could try back at a more convenient time, if I heard the clattering of dishes or silver, I’d tell them that it sounds as if they’re just sitting down to dinner and we’d call back at a better time. I always spoke politely and with respect, never called a customer by their first name, always introduced myself and asked if they had a moment to speak with me.
And I know I’m not the only one in my company who did this.
***Go ahead find my name in one of those “I lost my job” threads. I dare you. No luck? That’s because I sucked in my gut and started looking for something without taking time to whinge about it. (Not that whingeing about it is a bad thing. I’ve seen too many people I like lose jobs, and seen many threads which did elicit my (unstated) sympathy. I prefer to piss, bitch and moan about minor things; something big comes along, and I generally keep my mouth shut about it. Go fig.) Six months later, look where it got me.
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