Cold Call Elimination at Work
Everyone hates cold callers but they are paid to be persistent so just ending the call as quickly as possible is not going to prevent them calling you again in the future. To avoid future interruptions it is best to ascertain if what they have to offer is of any use to you. You may also want to get them to call you back at a more convenient time outside of your protected time period.
By asking these few basic questions you may also be able to say whether or not you are the correct person for them to be talking to.
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If you are unable to filter such calls by delegating the qualification process to your secretary, or a team member, then you have to devise a 'one-hit' strategy for these types of call.
From the suggested strategies you will be able to adopt those that best suit the industry you are in. The key to reducing repeat calls is to follow through with your promised actions.
1. Determine whether or not the product or service is of interest to you.
2. Request information to be sent to you and decide on its receipt how you will respond. (Remember you can request at this point to be removed from their mailing list.)
3. At the end of the call ask for the caller's details and say you will contact them if you require their product or service in the future.
4. Tell them after their explanation why their product or service is not appropriate for you or your organization by giving a valid reason, such as: 'We already get this service from our sister company…'
Most cold callers are working to a script and the last item on it usually says something like 'OK, well in that case we'll call you again in six months to see if the situation has changed.' You must make sure that they understand that this is not what you want to happen, either because, you are the wrong person to speak to, or they are offering something that is not appropriate.
You need to make it crystal clear that you don't expect them to call you back … ever.
Colleagues may not always be able to properly qualify these cold calls on your behalf but they can ask the caller to call you back at a time when you are happy to deal with such calls.
In this way you can still keep your protected time productive. It is essential that any messages taken for you contain all of the necessary information, as in the message pad above.
You may also be interested in:
Handling Interruptions | Controlling Interruptions | Identifying Interruptions | Limiting Inappropriate Socializing | Techniques to Minimize Interruptions | Managing Phone Interruptions | Managing Your Outbound Calls | How to Stop Constantly Checking Emails.
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