Won't take "no" for an answer

[Luna Baby]

Mods-please move to the correct forum if this isn't the right spot. Thx!

For those of your who work in outbound call centers--when you call up a business and ask for a specific person, how long do you persist in calling once you've been told, "No."?

I ask because we are constantly getting bombarded with requests for donations. Our headquarters office is located in another state but they still govern all decisions on donations and at least the last 2 years we've been prohibited from donating.

Today, I received a call from a fellow. He asked for Bossman, by his first name only. I had to literally pry from him his name, the company he was calling from and the nature of his call. I was very polite in letting him know that Bossman wasn't available, but that I'd been given the authorization to let him know that we aren't donating this year. He thanked me and stated he'd call "Bossman" another time. About 3 hours later, this same fellow called again. This time, I reminded him that I'd already advised him that we were not donating this year. His response was, "Is Bossman there? I have to hear it from him." At that point, because we've already been told by Boss that he won't take the call, I advised the caller that Bossman wouldn't take his call. He replied, "that's fine. I'll call again later."

I hate to just hang up on someone, I really do, but when I've been given the authority to tell you no by the head honcho himself, believe me, you won't get past me or the other secretary.

So, do you have to keep calling? Is there a limit on how long you'll spend trying to get through to a particular person? It's very frustrating since we coming into our busy season and we have so many other tasks to handle than "just answering/screening calls". There's a particular magazine that keeps calling, too, and both persons that have been receiving it no longer want it. I've advised that company too many times to count of such and they still call. And it's freakin free! Just send the damned thing if it's that important!

[Iseeyouthere]

He is attempting the same thing again and again expecting that he will acheive a different result.

In other words... he is insane.

[Stormraven]

When I did Outbound B2B telesales (that's what they called it anyway) I think we had to be told three times before we could close that lead.

[kibbles]

I know a lot of places have an autodialer and sometimes even when putting someone as "not interested" the autodialer would mess up and recall the same person literally an hour later.

[iradney]

It's not necessarily the agent. Remember, they're simply doing what their manager has told them to do. Who are doing what THEIR manager told them to do. Who are doing what the BigWigs at the Top Of The Ladder are telling them to do. Who have obviously never been on either side of a telemarketing conversation. Taking it out on the agent is only "treating the symptom", not the root cause.

[PepperElf]

In a way though I do feel bad for you.

Yes your Bossman told you to tell him "no"... but you know... sometimes it's not fun being the human shield. Perhaps your bossman can give you a break, call them up and say "no. stop calling." or something like that?

I was going to suggest that you don't even answer if you have caller ID but... well it's easy enough to get around that these days.

[bainsidhe]

Can you tell him to put you through to his supervisor? A legitimate company would have one. You might also tell him that Bossman doesn't make those decisions, it falls on other location or heck, you could say the office manager makes those decisions and that would be yourself.

[Andara Bledin]

The "I know he told you to say no and you already said he wasn't going to talk to me, but I'm going to call back later and hope someone else answers the phone" routine is a staple of the obnoxious salesman. I threatened more than a few of these guys with harassment charges if they ever called back.

A few rare times when he was feeling feisty, the bossman liked to take the calls and then ream them a new one for harassing his receptionist and not following directions.

^-.-^

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, what's nice about jettisoning your land line is that you very rarely have to endure this sort of nonsense.

I've actually put pest's numbers in my address book and labled them "asshole...do not answer". You can actually simply disconnect the call the instant you see it's them.

[Redbeard]

He is attempting the same thing again and again expecting that he will acheive a different result.

In other words... he is insane.

No necessarily . I walked out of a job like that because they put immense amounts of pressure to make sure that you get a certain percentage or higher of your call list for that day to donate. We were actually told that we could call teh same person up to 3 times in a single day if we haven't talked to them in person and only through a 3rd party.
It's annoying as hell, but if it comes down to annoying someone or risk not making your paycheck.....

[Luna Baby]

Thanks, guys! Sometimes, I just need to vent, but I do appreciate your insight, especially from those of you who have been on the other side of the phone. It seems that my cohort and I get slammed daily with donation requests and an attempt to update our information for a "free" magazine.

I work for such a great guy (finally!!), I'd never ask him to take a call that I'm being paid to sheild him from. Afterall, I has to earn my paycheck!

[Andara Bledin]

Well, what's nice about jettisoning your land line is that you very rarely have to endure this sort of nonsense.

This is nice in theory, but I've always gotten more junk calls on my cell than my land line.

I've actually put pest's numbers in my address book and labled them "asshole...do not answer". You can actually simply disconnect the call the instant you see it's them.

You can also give people who you don't like but who won't stop calling a special ring-tone, like silence. You can do special rings on landlines, too, but most people never check out the options for regular phones.

As for the "free subscription" people, I started a policy (with the old boss' permission) that we'd only renew vie email or regular mail. If they were required to update via phone, they might as well just take us off the list. Somehow, they always managed to find a way around the "must verify by phone" limitation.

^-.-^

[Luna Baby]

As for the "free subscription" people, I started a policy (with the old boss' permission) that we'd only renew vie email or regular mail. If they were required to update via phone, they might as well just take us off the list. Somehow, they always managed to find a way around the "must verify by phone" limitation.

^-.-^

Thanks for the suggestion, Andara. I'll ask him about that one on Monday. This would be a huge help.