Top 10 Things I Would Never Do After Working as a Telemarketer

I worked as a telemarketer for a few years selling everything from phone and internet service to timeshares and even worked as a health insurance agent for a while which also included calling a lot of people (they said it wasn’t telemarketing but it was 100% telemarketing). Over that time I learned a lot about sales and telemarketing. Whether you are interested in buying something and want to know the sales secrets or just want to make those annoying spam calls stop, it’s useful to know the top ten things I would never do after working as a telemarketer.

First, if I am interested in buying something, I’m not going to believe the first price I’m told is the best deal they have to offer me. Many telemarketers are given a script, and the script usually gives them multiple price points. Sometimes they may even tell you it’s on a discount from a higher price, to begin with; but there’s actually a chance it was either never on sale and it’s just a sales tactic, or it just so happens to have been on sale for a very long time, again, a sales tactic to try to trick you into buying in at a “lower” price. In reality, a lot of telemarketers are given other options to utilize; like an additional discount to offer you if they think they’ll lose the sale. Spend some time complaining about the price and see how much you can save!

Going off of my first point, the second thing I wouldn’t do is buy without asking for extras, for free of course. Either more quantity, better quality, or some kind of bonus that wasn’t on the table before. The tricks up the sleeves of the telemarketer you’re talking to could be endless. It never hurts to be just a little bit stubborn, makes it sound like you don’t think the sale sounds fair as is, and see what extra goodies you might get added to your deal. And yes, you can often bargain for both a lower price and free extras, combining my first two points into one genius idea.

The third thing I’m never doing is buying from a company that wasn’t easily verifiable on google. Any company that’s just genuinely utilizing telemarketing and not selling scams should have a website, pictures, videos, and reviews that you can easily find on google. Any company I worked with in telemarketing always had something that could easily be verified on google. The timeshares had reputable vacation resorts they were hosted by, the phone and internet service was through a popular provider in that area, and in health insurance, I had a verifiable license number along with the very well-known insurance providers I worked with. The point is, that all of these things were easily verifiable on google. If you aren’t personally and confidently familiar with the business calling you and you can’t discover a lot about them quickly on google, it’s likely a scam.

My last tip for those interested in actually buying something is that I would never share any of my usernames, passwords, or pins related to my bank or card. Genuine companies will not need this information, even in billing. They may need your card number, name on the card, and expiration date, but they do not need the 4-digit pin and they don’t need your bank login information.

For those of you that just want to get the calls to stop, something I would never do is lie about why I don’t want to be on the phone with the telemarketer. They are a professional salesperson who was trained by somebody who’s probably worked in sales for decades. It’s quite likely they have trained for every possible response you could give them, even if it is true and not a lie. Keep reading if you really want to get the calls to stop.

Another thing I’m never doing is hanging up on the telemarketer without saying anything. This is just as bad as telling a lie because they didn’t get the sale and you didn’t do the necessary thing to make them go away. Remember to always say “Please put me on the do not call list” before hanging up. If you’ve already done this, another one of my tips coming up might help you.

The seventh thing I’m never doing is putting my phone number and/or email in any kind of online form for something like a free quote or more info on something. The terms and conditions of the form you likely didn’t read before filling it said by filling out the information they asked for your consent to be contacted by salespeople. If I want a quote or more info, I’ll call the company directly to get the information I need.

The eighth tip I have is I’m not forgetting to register my phone number and email on the national do not call registry with 5 easy steps. First, go to donotcall.gov. Second, click on “register your phone”. Third, click “register here” and fill out the form with your number and email. Fourth, click submit. Fifth, check your email for a message from [email protected]. Open the email and click on the link within 72 hours to complete your registration. Keep in mind it can take 72 hours for your registration to fully kick in from the time you confirm the email, and if you fill out any online forms like the ones I mentioned earlier, you may need to reregister because in filling out that online form, you just consented to get calls and emails again.

The ninth thing I’m never doing is changing my number to avoid spam calls. More than likely you filled out a form with your name, number, and email. This is why you’re getting the calls but since you might not know this, you could do it again with your new number, meaning your new number would be just as much at risk as the one you have now, you’ll still have to use the national do not call registry; your best bet is to reregister ASAP.

Finally, I’m never blocking spam calls in an effort to get them to stop. Most telemarketers are actually calling from a computer system that generates a new phone number every time they call, so they can and will call you again. To make the calls stop you have to answer the phone, say “Put me on the do not call list”, hang up, register on donotcall.gov, and be patient.

I’d like to leave you with a few things to keep in mind. You can still ask to be put on the do not call list even if you end up buying. There may be more than one company calling, so just because you told one company to put you on their do not call list doesn’t protect you from other companies, which is why I recommend using donotcall.gov to make sure you stop all calls. Once you say “Put me on the do not call list” or register your phone number on the national do not call registry, it can still take 72 hours to kick in and get the calls to stop; however, if they continue to persist past 72 hours you can consider legal action and use donotcall.gov to report it.