also known as a Teleservices Representative. 
Recently, I read a post from rainbowbrite2200@xanga about her experience as a customer service representative. I personally thought this was a fantastic post. It gave a great insight on what customer service reps have to go through when YOU ARE CALLING THEM. When what happens when they call you? This summer I picked up a third job with my best friend as a teleservices representative to earn a little extra cash for the fall when I wouldn't be able to work as much. I was an "application specialist" and I had to call and follow up on mail offers for credit cards that were sent out by the company that we were contracted to represent. I also represented a canadian natural gas company and recontracted their customers and conducted surverys for an AARP program. Most of this is about the credit card part of my job because that's what I did the most of and that's what irritated me the most. The natural gas recontracting and the AARP surveys were actually really fun considering the job. Like, if there was a fun easy part to being a telemarketer, those two types of calls were it. Honestly being a telemartketer is really really emotionally trying. People are mean to say the least. Here are a few tips on how to deal with them and not make them cry. 1. Don't Yell At Them. They're only trying to do their jobs. I hated it when people screamed at me for absolutely no reason. Most times I hadn't even gotten into my pitch. I just introduced myself and stated who I was affiliated with and people decided to FLIP OUT right there and then. 
Hi John Smith Please? This is John Smith. Hi Mr. Smith, my name is Allison Smith and I'm calling on behalf of ___________. WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME!? Dude. Because I'm getting paid to call you. How do you know that I'm not calling to offer you a million dollars? Seriously, extend the favor and be as polite to them as they are to you. They aren't TRYING to make your life difficult, they trying to do their jobs the best that they can. 2. They have to make an effort even if you've already said no. Mr. Smith, Im actually calling today to let you know that you've been pre-qualified to recieve the ________________ Platnium Card. I don't want it. Effort 1: Well Mr. Smith keep in mind that this card comes with a _____% interest rate on purchases and balance transfers and a fantastic benefits package that your other cards may not offer. I said no. Effort 2: Mr. Smith, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of balances are you carrying on your other cards? I can give you an idea of what you could save every month in just interest if you were to process a balance transfer with your application today. I don't carry a balance on any of my other cards. Effort 3: Well thats GREAT to hear Mr. Smith! I bet everyone wishes they could say that! Keep in mind that THIS CARD comes with a great benefits package that includes travel benefits, fraud protection and so much more! I'd hate to see you miss out on this great offer, let's go ahead and get you started. I have to talk to my wife. Effort 4: Mr. Smith, we understand that some people feel that they need to talk to their spouse about this. But I really feel that once you and your wife see the card and the benefits package description, you'll want to make this your card of choice, so let's go ahead and get you started. I don't think I want to. Final Effort: Mr. Smith, before I let you go, let me suggest this. Why not consider this card as a back up for emergencies? As you know, sometimes the unexpected happens and its always safe to have an extra finanacial resource available, don't you think? It really is an incredible card and I just know that once you see you see the card and have it in your hands, you'll definitely see all the great things the card can do for you. No thank you. Alright Mr. Smith, I really appreciate you taking the time to listen to me. And if you do change your mind, or have any questions, please feel free to call us at 1-800-123-4567. You have a wonderful evening.. This is what should take place in a typical call. Our bosses are actually listening to us to make sure that we DONT let you go after the first no. If we do, we're the ones who get busted. In addition, every call is being recorded so that both companies, the company I worked for and the company we were representing, can go back and listen to the reps and perform a little bit of quality control so that customers are getting the best experience we can give them. PLUS telemarketers work on commission so the more efforts we make, the better off we are. We feel confident that we made every effort to get out paycheck to be a little bit bigger since we have bills to pay too. Most after effort #1 most people are like "ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING?! I SAID I DON"T WANT IT!" But then they say on the line instead of hanging up. And as prevoisly stated, they aren't allowed to let you go. We have to make a second effort. I would rather you just hang up on me if you're going to be rude to me anyways. Really, I just love it when people insult my intelligence or when they insult my choice in my line of work in an economic recession when jobs are few and far between. Yepp, you're pretty smart yourself. 3. I'm going to save you some time so you can call someone else. No you aren't. Especially if you stay on the line. I cannot just let you go under any circumstances. You're going to say let me save to some time because you're trying to be nice. Then Im going to have to make an effort anyways. Then you're going to say no more firmly. Then Im going to have to make an effort. Then you're going to get irritated and yell at me about how you tried to be nice. Either let me do my pitch, or hang up. Don't say no and expect you to let me go. I also love people who say no, and then don't let you make an effort or say anything at all, but still stay on the line and expect me to hang up first. Im not allowed to hang up while the customer is on the line so you're out of luck. 
Mr. Smith its a great card I dont want it But.. I said I dont want it. Mr. Smith... NO! and then theres that awkward few minutes after where you don't want to get yelled at but he wont hang up. Seriously, just hang up the phone. It's not that hard. 4. YOU'RE CALLING ME DURING DINNER! Um.Then don't answer the phone during supper. Or invest in some caller ID. Just because your work day ends at five doesn't mean mine does. In fact, my work day started at 5. Well, for that job anyways. Again, we are just trying to do our jobs, Lucky you. You get to eat dinner with your family at 5:00 everyday. I get to eat dinner at 10:00 pm by myself because the rest of my family is in bed ( i have old parents). Kudos to you on your perfect life with your perfect 9-5 job. 
5. I'm his wife. You can talk to me. No, I really can't. Legally I'm only allowed to fill out the application with the name on the lead. I can tell you a little bit about the offer but if you want it, then your spouse has to be available for the applicaiton part. I also really really really hated when husbands declined for their wives. Like, that was my biggest pet peeve ever. Wow, are you her dad? How about you let her make her own decision? But honestly, if the spouse says no, we aren't allowed to make an effort, we have to let it go. I have power of attorney and I want to do it. Well I can't deal with power of attorney. WELL WHY NOT!? It's a legal thing, call this number. Or there are variations of "SHES EIGHT THOUSAND YEARS OLD! SHE DOESN'T NEED A CREDIT CARD!" Well, I have no idea how old you are when I call you. Don't yell at me. 6. Are you really _____ Bank? Yes. Now listen to my pitch and don't give me a load of crap. I don't even collect any information that I could steal your identity with so chill yourself. The bank already has your information on file, the information you provide in the application just confirms you are who you say you are. Why? WEll I've had people provide all the information up to their birthday and then they hang up. That mostly happens with people who sound shady to begin with. 7. THE APPLICATION. So believe it or not, I acutally did get to fill out applications with customers who wanted the card every now and then. After the pitch, the whole application takes about 15 mintues with balance transfer information and about 10 minutes without depending on how long you take to give me what I need to fill in on the app. At the end of the call, I'm required to read all the terms and conditions verbatim. PLEASE DON'T HANG UP IN THE MIDDLE. It takes about 4 minutes for me to get through the entire thing and at that point you've already been on the phone for about 5 minutes. Not only will you have wasted your time, you'll have wasted mine too. Similarly, LISTEN TO THE PITCH so that you aren't surprised by any of the rates or anything. If you listen to the pitch, you can decide BEFORE you waste all the time filling out the application. And please don't give me a hard time when I ask for your birthday. Ill even tell you mine if you want. Same with the last 4 digits of your social. I'll tell you mine. I can't do anything with it. And at the end of the terms, a CLEAR YES is needed to submit your application. Do you understand all the terms and conditions of Mr. Smith? Yeah. I'm sorry, is that a yes? Yeah. I'm sorry sir, I need a clear yes. YES. 8. The DE-List. Did you know that if you say "Take me off your list" to a telemarketer, they legally aren't allowed to effort or try to convince you otherwise? They do however, have to read you the do not call policy verbatim. It bascially tells you have we are taking you off our list but it may take up to 30 days to process your request, so if you get calls in the meantime, tell the caller you aren't interested or tell them to delist you again so you can be sure it gets done properly. This kind of goes along with the whole "you called me yesterday" thing too. If you want them to stop calling, you have to give them a clear no or tell them to delist you. If you say I have to think about it or something along those lines, they're going to put you in for a call back just because that's procedure. And I know personally, if people were really rude to me, I put them in for a callback just so people keep bugging them. And I know alot of my coworkers did the same. #1 reason to be nice to them, so that they do stop calling you. And if you pick up and pretend that you aren't you, theyre going to status the call as not home and they're going to keep calling. Chances are that you'll never get the same telemarketer twice because the dialers are automatic so you get calls by chance. 
Note: The national do not call list does not apply to businesses you're already affilitaed with so they're allowed to call you unless you tell them otherwise. How do you handle telemarketers? | 
