For the past few days, I've been receiving calls from an unfamiliar number.
As usual, I ignored the call, guessing that it must be from one of the banks' telemarketer.
Two days ago, my phone rang again and I picked up the call accidentally, as I was expecting a call and answered it without looking at who's calling. And I realized my mistake immediately.
The lady on the phone asked for me and when I identify myself, she quickly jumped into her sales talk.
She identify herself, which company she is calling from and reminded me I received a $10 petrol voucher. Then she went on to invite me to visit their showroom to look at their car models for a test drive and some special promotion. This was roughly how our conversation went:
She : "I'm so-and-so and I'm calling from (company name) because you received a $10 petrol card. We would like to invite you to take a look at our (think she mentioned a model) and take a test drive as well as the special promotion."
Me : "I'm sorry but I won't be free these few days."
She : "You can come down during the weekend. We have two showrooms at blah blah blah."
Me : "Oh, I got something on this weekend."
She : "How about tomorrow? I can fix an appointment with an agent for you right away."
Me : "I need to work on weekdays."
She : "Oh. How about next week? Do you prefer Tuesday or Wednesday?"
Now, I'm lying through my teeth.
Me : "I'm going for an overseas trip."
She : "When are you leaving and for how long?"
Me : "Next Monday for 10 days. When is the promotion until? Can I check my schedule and call you back?"
She : "It will be for a while. I can give you a call to confirm the appointment. Do you prefer me to call you tomorrow or Friday?"
Me : "I'm afraid there'll be changes. Why don't I call you when I am back?"
She : "Maybe I'll give you a call back in the middle of the month when you are back."
Well, if you've read my earlier post, you would know that I'm not the owner of the car. She would not have gotten me on the phone if I had not answered it by mistake. And there's no intention to change car anytime soon.
In fact, I had wanted to put a fake telephone number so that I wouldn't be bombarded with these nuisance calls. But I wrote down my real number to as I'm curious to see what they are going to do next.
Is the company too naive to believe every piece of information that they received? And they've asked a multiple choice question that gave them every reason to call us. There was no option to tick "No plan to change car." So anyone who ticks 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months is a potential customer.
Talking about the telemarketer, she has probably learned some sales presentation skills. For example, don't ask customers whether they want or not. Assume they want it and gives them two options to choose. When you give them options, they will have to choose one.
However, she also failed to listen more than talk. Was I in the right situation and environment to talk to her? Did I have time when she called? At the very least, she could have asked if it's convenient to talk now.
Ultimately, they are wasting resources in me, as I'm not ready to buy. And worst of all, the information they collected about me are wrong.
No doubt there will be people who provide genuine information. But that doesn't mean they want your product and offer. They could be a loyal customer of a particular car brand. They could be driving a certain model for specific reasons like budget constraints, big family, etc.
Instead of pestering prospects to visit you, how are you going to get them to come knocking on your door?
Please leave down your email address below if you are interested finding out what you can do.