…pushy and persistent sales people who seem to have a knack for calling at the busiest time i.e lunch rush, who never announce themselves or who they work for, but start off the conversation asking if the owner is available and who try to push for more information after you tell them the owner is unavailable and you’re in the middle of a rush?
Personally I feel no need to be polite to those people. They’re disruptive, intrusive, unprofessional and have no concept of basic phone etiquette.
On the other hand, kudos to those who have the foresight to call during down times, who announce themselves and their intentions before they ask for the owner and when told the owner is unavailable will simply say, “I’ll just try back later, thanks for your time.”
Funny, I just posted this on another thread. We say no…take us off your list. What is really annoying is our phone numbers are only a couple of digits off so they call a number we say no and a few minutes later they call the other line then the other. Ridiculous.
We never ever give out information anymore. I tell my employees anyone who needs to talk to me knows my name. I tell them they can leave a message and I will call back…that is if they are uncertain if it may be a local. Our caller id usually lets them now cuz the unwanted solicitors will show up 000-000-0000 or blocked.
I have found the best way is an example…They call and offer to lower your rate for CC processing…I tell them I am making so much money, I need to find ways to raise my costs…Or one of the most frequent calls I get is Google placement to make our business the number listing on google…again I tell them business is so good I could never handle any more…They never have a come back for that…
I really want to know how to deal with handling menu after menu littering my door and front porch and lawn and driveway from the same crappy pizza place or chinese restaurant…
How would you all hanlde this…???
Being in the restaurant business as well as SALES, right? isnt that what we are all doing…why would you talk to someone, anyone like they were a piece of trash on the phone??? I could never understand this…You never know who knows who on the other end of the phone…Just because they are in sales, doesnt mean that they dont know someone who they could introduce to your establishment, or they may have a need to order food for other clients…
If they are polite, profesional and HONEST. I politely tell them I am not interested or do not have time or whatever but would be happy to look over some info if they send it or drop it off.
Most cold calls I get are not honest or polite or profesional. Those I do not appreciate and I let them know. If you want my credit card processing business, but start the conversation with a lie and are evasive about who you are, I will give you my opinion of you.
“We are calling on behalf of Mastercard Visa becasue we understand that the restaraunts in your area are being overcharged for their credit and debit card processing. We will be at your store next Tuesday at 10:00 am to audoi your statements”
The person that made that call is dishonest, knows they are being dishonest and therefore does not deserve any more consideration than any other person trying to decieve you to hurt your business and family.[/b]
