The Cold Calling Poll

I've got really good at cutting off the cold calls quickly (and even politely!) but they can be real wind-ups and time-wasters.

If you're concentrating on writing a complex, lengthy careers guidance report, doing your best to make sure its reader won't be able to misinterpret a single sentence of it, being interrupted by a cold call lasting a minute or so can stop you working effectively for the next half hour. GRRR!

Cold calling works! I was searching predictive dialer for my firm to say thank you to each customer. Long story short: the costs were not affordable so I rejected the Idea. after some days I received a cold call from a company they were offering a predictive dialer on mobile known as <name removed> It was totally unexpected because the concept was totally new and cheap. I bought 5 for my staff and from that day I changed my thoughts toward cold calling.

Well, if I am honest, I hate cold callers and when I get in from work and the telephone starts to ring at 6:00pm or so (and often later) I do get a little grumpy. Overseas callers who's english is so bad that you have to work very hard to understand them make my blood boil when they say "hi my name is Fred and I very much want to speak to the house owner". My desire to be as annoying as possible then kicks in, especially after a bottle of wine. I will often use the following:

OK that's fine, I am a squatter here
Sorry, no roof insulation because I had a fire last night
I live in a flat, try ringing the man who lives above me he is on the third floor!
Sorry he is dead
Sorry I am dead
Sorry this is an automated service and your telephone will self destruct in 30 seconds
I don't like chicken do you?
Yes, yes , yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.............they tend to hang up after the fourth yes
How did you know I was here? Don't tell my wife, do you promise?

I think I need

I think for B2B, its almost a pre-requisite to doing business...

B2C, in the states, its very touchy, and quite damned illegal if you're on the do not call list.

What i really hate are the robo calls with the push 3 if you want to be annoyed by a real human ones.

My 2 pennies.

Regards

Los

In the UK, it's supposed to be an offence if the homeowner has registered themselves on the Telephone Preference Service, ie opted out of cold calls. But from what I've seen it's a toothless agency, hard work to make a complaint, and only slows down the number of calls, doesn't stop them.

I think robo calls should be outlawed. The worst offenders seem to be missold insurance ambulance chasing type calls

I think that cold calls don't work because people have Internet, but you can use phone research combined with email marketing, autoresponder messages and ppc campaigns. Email marketing is also effective, but it has become more targeted and value-oriented. You should bring a solution to a certain audience in your emails, help people.

I use phone research when I do user experience research and I need to hear opinion of real people, what do they really think about my app, project, what difficulties they have with it.

But cold calls are still alive in Ukraine and Russia, especially in B2B.

Personally I think its outdated and preys on the vulnerable and ill informed, I have no time for anyone who's going to try and hard sell me something over the phone anyway, but a lot of the time there are much better deals to be had elsewhere and with companies who aren't going to expect me to make a snap decision.

Cold callers more often than not strike fear into people who don't know any better, it works because there are people that are still being conned by hard selling via cold calling but it's not working for the better, it's just an irritating form of marketing/sales. I don't know how many times I've heard 'I'm calling from your ISP' and when I ask who my ISP is they name any one but the one I'm with, same with mobile phone networks and energy suppliers!

Latest cold call is an 02 number and is silent. Most peoples home is their castle and to have people phone you when you get in from a long days work is really annoying! Having done cold calling in the very distant past, calling in the day I add, the targets were high and environment pressured. 

I don't know why I find it even more annoying when people ring the doorbell and wake the kids up!

Maybe there's a need for a cold-call number list and who are actually are. My mum got suckered into changing mobile tariffs by thinking  she was talking to orange when she wasn't really talking to them but someone who had her number.

 

some phones have integrated call blocking - most android devices do, not sure about others.

some cold calls can be quite humorous though, like when a company calls you trying to sell something.....you already buy from them......

i do agree though, most are such a waste of time and downright annoying! sometimes i just want to remove the phone....