There is a lot of scamming and crap going on. Fake charges on cards, getting congratulatory emails about something you have nothing to do with. But the best scam is the phone scam.
So this is addressed to those people who make cold calls and what they can do better to sound more legitimate.
- Avoid using a slew of “ummms”
- Don’t ask me if I am me. You called me. You should already know who I am.
- Repeating the same scripted line when asked a question you don’t wish to answer does not strengthen your legitimacy. It solidifies your inability to think for yourself.
- Still on the script. If it’s just one script, practice – practice – practice. If you’re stumbling on a word or words in your script you need to rehearse at home in front of a mirror. Call me back once you’ve run your lines.
- What’s up with the “you’re being recorded” thing? We know this. For those who are camera shy or hate their own voice (me) just hang up. It’s a definitive click.
- When you ask “can you hear me” three times, realize that if I couldn’t hear you how would I relay that status?
- If you ask if “this is a good time for you” do you really care? Maybe I’m roasting a chicken or something. I wouldn’t have answered the call if it was a bad time.
Now most of you wanna say “Jeff, if you don’t recognize the number don’t answer it.” But I’ve also got this curiosity to see just how far I can push one so they are completely off script and stuck by asking stuff like “now will this product restore all of my hair or just the hair on my head”? Or ask if they’d consider sending the item free and then I’ll pay them if I like it.
If they say their name is Charlie Stevens or Meg Ryan, they’re 50% toward the scam line. If I got a call from Rasheed Hovnanian I’d probably listen. If the quality of your call or connection is bad, ask them where they’re calling from. Now nothing against filipinos but your shelf life in this business has to be brief. No that’s not profiling, that’s extending a helping hand. Tell them you’re really interested in something but you just can’t afford it. Hey, they called you to improve your life. Just how serious are they?
Final trick. Tell them to call you back on your other cell as this is your business cell then give a number that’s one digit off. I know. Pretty cruel, but people do it after bad dates too, and the art of the scam is pretty much in line with a bad setup. So maybe we can take the annoyance of the cold call and turn it around to an exercise of the art of conversation. Now I don’t do this all day long, just when I’m bored. Here’s a great tactic from Jerry Seinfeld.