Telemarketing – Just mention it and watch the people around you groan in frustration. I don’t believe there is a single person out there that doesn’t mind getting unsolicited phone calls from people who, one way or another, want to separate you from some of your money. Why is this considered acceptable? So I hope you will join me in a cheer when I tell you that it is not going to be acceptable any more.
Telemarketing in any form including sales, requests for charitable donations and surveys are now strictly illegal.
I am sorry if this severely hampers what may otherwise be your completely legitimate business, but you are simply going to have to find other (less annoying) ways of finding customers. Honestly, I find it hard to believe that telemarketing is actually lucrative. I rarely let the caller get past “hello”. Who in their right mind would buy something based on a cold call to their home phone? That’s just it. No one in their right mind would. Telemarketers prey on people who have, for one reason or another, some kind of diminished capacity. Moreover, these days it is hard to separate an innocent telemarketing call (one that is only trying to sell you a product or service that you don’t want) from an outright scam like someone pretending to be with your credit card company or your bank or your mortgage broker. For the protection of all of my citizens, therefore, this practice must be universally stopped.
What about the charities you ask? Why am I not giving them a pass? For one thing, you can’t distinguish a legitimate charity from a scammer on the phone any better than you can distinguish a salesman from a scammer. Sure, legitimate charities do make phone calls to solicit donations but really, tell me truthfully that you don’t mind. Tell me that it’s OK to have your dinner interrupted, to miss some of your favorite show, to run to the phone with a crying baby in your arms because a charity was calling. Charities are just going to have to find less annoying and intrusive ways of soliciting donations. I also find it a little bothersome to think that some of the charitable donations I do make are going towards making these annoying phone calls. What exactly am I paying for? – Cancer research or a marketing team? Harassing phone calls make people NOT want to give. Charities need to inspire people towards generosity, not just bug them until they crack.
Lastly are those calls that start with, “I am not selling anything.” Who knows what they actually want. I don’t usually let them get much past that line. Whether it’s a survey, a political campaign, or another scam it doesn’t matter. Consider the personal or home telephone sacred. If you are not returning a phone call, responding to an inquiry, or calling someone you actually know, put down the phone and come up with a new way of doing business.
As always I remain your all powerful and benevolent Queen of the World,
Marisa
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