I just had someone local call and POLITELY ask me if they could please send me an occassional email about Photoshop classes they teach. Why, I've never seen anything like it. What is this, some new marketing strategy, or somethin'?
Well, whatever. It worked. I said yes.
Every once and awhile, something so amazin' happens, ya just gotta share it.
The stuff in all caps is what's amazing. That someone would ask permission before sending you what you might consider junk mail is amazing. Might be a USA thing - we don't see much decency in commerce here anymore.
Sounds like you never answer your phone! The amazing part (for me) would be that they were polite. I've never had a telemarketer be polite. I rank them right down there with used car salesmen.
Neil,
It just so happens that I will be attending a day class tomorrow for Photoshop users. It is presented by CompuMaster. It will be my first training in Photoshop. They say this conference is
"for graphics, design and Web professionals at all experience levels". There are two sessions that run simultaneously, Track One is for those who want to master the basics of Photoshop, while Track Two teaches secrets, techniques and methods for Photshop pros. A conferee can jump back and forth between the two tracks if he wishes.
I'll post my thoughts about the experience sometime this weekend.
I was constantly pestered by one photo studio for years. Finally they called one day when I was dressed and ready to go out, just waiting for the better half.
Kept them on the phone 20 minutes asking questions about their service, prices, number of poses, and how many people could be in each.
Then I said it sounds good, I`ll get my mother. I put the phone down and waited. Took another 20 min before they hung up.
You know they never called again.
As long as this is a cheap way to solicite business, it will continue. Now you know how to make it expensive. They love it when you just slam the phone down. They can get on to the next number.
What I find sick are the poor folks trying to earn some money and getting bad leads. I get many offers to reduce my mortgage which has been paid years ago. In my youth I did some cold calling but this is colder than cold.
Depending on the type of phone system they have, the poor schlub on the other end CAN'T hang up on you if you put the phone down and walk away. I once did that to someone who called me and asked me to participate in a survey about marketing for soda. Of course, he lied and said it would only be a few questions, lasting 5 mins. When he got to the 10 minute mark and wasn't close to done, I told him someone was at the door, put the handset on the counter, logged on to the computer, joined an internet chat room, and proceeded to engage in cyber-chat for 40 mins. When I got back up to check on him, he was STILL on the line, and trying to get me to finish the survey. I asked him if I could call him back- no. He asked if there was a better time for him to call me back- I told him in two weeks. The survey period would be over by then. Oh well... his loss.
Another fun one was when a friend of mine kept getting hassled by the Baltimore Sun's marketing department trying to get him to subscribe. He was rather upset with them because of repeated billing problems he had when he did have a subscription, so after repeatedly requesting to be taken off their calling list (to no avail), the next time they called, he proceeded to read the entire letters A, B and C of the Baltimore white pages to them. Took him about an hour and a half, but he got his point across. They stopped calling him.
If you get calls from telemarketers, they have certain rules about when to call and when not to - if you mention certain things during the call, it will get you on an automatic do-not-call list for at least 6 months. One of those events is a death in the family. This can be milked for considerable hilarity if played properly. This can also provoke some rather odd reactions from people. The friend who read the phonebook to the Baltimore Sun used to work at a company that did some telemarketing, in addition to being victimized by telemarketers on a regular basis. His co-workers invented this fictional employee that they would refer any telemarketer to. "Harvey" would always be out at the time the telemarketer would call, so they would be told to call back when "Harvey" was back in. At the recommended time, someone would call asking for "Harvey". Whoever answered the phone would know immediately that it was a telemarketer, being set up. They would ask the telemarketer, "Harvey's not here now. Why are you asking for him? are you a friend or a family member?" The poor telemarketer would say, "no... I'm with ABC long distance services... why?" The co-worker would then say, "Oh, so then you don't know, do you? Harvey was killed in a horrible accident over the weekend. They're still recovering the body parts..." and invent some horrendous way to bump him off, ranging from being run over by the tow boat in a waterskiing accident to combinations of electrocution and drilling by a highly defective power tool. The reactions ran from one woman who burst into tears, and had flowers sent to their office, to the guy who gagged, chuckled a bit, then said, "Is there anyone else there I could talk to?".
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