Network marketing's devious tricks

Last night, a woman called from a network marketing company, and she claims that a distant cousin (Jane) is part of her "organization." The woman claims that she is furthering Jane's education and as part of  the process, wants me to give names of people who would want to build a business, yada, yada, yada. I start by humouring her, to see how she does her pitch. She's enthusiastic, she seems to believe in what she says, she's just vague enough to make a desperate person want to meet her and listen to what she has to sell. So far, so good. However, things start breaking apart when she realizes that I'm not too keen on being part of her network, and that I don't want to send her the names of people I know because they would not be interested. Her response is: "Don't filter! Just go through your cell phone, and write down all the numbers in there, then go through your Facebook page and write all the names and contact information you have there. Then you can send me the information by email." She's got some nerve! That's pretty much when I lost my patience and hung up.

It's interesting how, in network marketing, people seem to think that you just want to give them all the names of people you know because it's the "right thing to do" in their world. This isn't the first time I've had this sort of call and usually, I hang up after thirty seconds. This time I was in a good mood, so I was  more patient. One thing I never got to ask her was: "Why doesn't Jane call me herself instead of sending you. If you're helping her in her training, shouldn't she be doing all of this on her own? Isn't that part of the learning process?" What a deceptive approach.

Telemarketing III

I'm not even sure this is telemarketing or not. Maybe it's just a bad case of customer service.

As a member of Alan Weiss's mentor program, I am constantly being reminded that I need to follow up consistently. This lesson came to mind as soon as I received a call from a company that will remain nameless... because I don't remember what it was.

They called me around 10 pm and... well, instead of telling you, how about taking you LIVE to the phone call I received just moments ago. Roll tape!

(Phone rings)

Me: Hello?

Them: Hello Mr. Duperval, my name is So-N-So, how are you tonight?

Me: (Uh oh! Cialdini at work) I'm fine thanks.

Them: I'm calling from SomeCompany.com. On January 4th you sent a query through our Web site and I am following up. I don't have the question in front of me but I'll be glad to answer if you let me know what it was.

Me: ...

Them: Sir?

Me: Are you serious? That was seven months ago! How on Earth do you expect me to remember what I asked you?

Them: I understand sir. I just wanted to let you know that we have received your query and that we are following up. I apologize for the delay in responding. You may be interested to know that we have a new download of the software available and I invite you to get the latest copy. Do you have any more questions sir?

Me: Dude, I didn't have any questions to begin with!

Them: Fine, well thank you for your business and have a great evening! Goodbye!

Me: .....

Well, at least it gave me a good laugh.

More telemarketing

Today I received another call from telemarketers. Yes, I know I can get on a no call list, but as long as it gives me material to write about...

This call was different. I realized, from the start, that it was a sales call but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

She did a lot of things right:

• She asked me "How are you?" Seems innocuous enough, but it can turn out to be a very important question. That question triggers the consistency and commitment response that Robert Cialdini explains in his book on influence. Simply put, if you ask someone how they feel, and the answer "fine" or "good," that alone increases your chances of closing a sale;
• She pronounced my name correctly.
• I gave her two minutes to make her case. After that time, she told me "It's been two minutes, may I go on?" Nice.
  
• When I told her why I wasn't going to buy, she actually shut up and let me speak for about two minutes. The last time I had such a discussion with a telemarketer, the woman at the other end constantly tried to interrupt me to let me know how wrong I was.

At the end, she asked me if I was satisfied with the way she handled the call and I had to say yes. It was, in fact, an enjoyable call because even if I disagreed with her, she worked professionally and she treated me with respect.