Uncategorized 07 Aug 2007 06:00 pm
My secret weapon: sincerity
“I’m sorry, but I don’t respond to telephone solicitations as a matter of principle. Thank you.”
That’s my new line for dealing with charity telemarketers, and wow, does it ever work. Apparently, nobody has a comeback for “a matter of principle” in their script. I’ve taken to listening to the sweet stunned silence for a brief moment before I hang up the phone.
It’s even better than exclaiming, “Oh no! Hedgehog!” at them, and seems to leave them just as befuddled. There’s something elegant about an effective “No” that is both polite and sincere. And aside from the meaningless “I’m sorry,” it is very sincere: I do not approve of people calling my home and pestering me for money, and I choose not to support that industry. That’s why I can deliver that line deadpan.
on 07 Aug 2007 at 8:59 pm 1.Cissa said …
I may try that.
Currently, I either don’t pick up the calls, or I pick them up and explain that we do not, as a matter of principle, give money to people who call us, and therefore their org willnot get any money from us for at least a year because of the call. AQ nd if they call again, we won’t give them anything more, ever.
The problem is- this causes whingeing and whining and other ugly and unprofessional reactions. Still, I think that if they want our money, they can at the very least make a bit of effort toward dealing with our preferences. Which are NO CALLING.
on 08 Aug 2007 at 7:41 am 2.Joy said …
[crosses fingers] I haven’t had to deal with charity calling much, but I like the response.
I have taken to writing back to personal mail solicitations - not the faux personalized bulk mailings, but for example the ones I get from UW or Swedish because I have used some of their specialized clinics/services - and telling them my donation is the money or volunteer time they will save in postage, printing and handling by taking my name off their solictations list and no longer sending me stuff.
I try to sound less snarky, usually. Sheesh, though - Swedish for example sent me a 4 page letter on heavy stationary, the sort of thing universities send out acceptance letters on. NOT cheap stuff. Sure, it got me to open the letter, and then to wonder WTF they were doing spending their so lengthily solicited money on that sort of thing instead of something useful, like the services they so glowingly cataloged. It certainly didn’t encourage me to give them any of mine…