Assertive or rude?

[BayView]

I'm probably the most cynical person here.

Please agree here.......................

I'm happy to help anyone in need generally, but there are many who would take advantage in life these days.

The other night we had a cold-caller come to the door. Right at the moment we served dinner. Not that this matters; he was done before he began.

He knocked at the door, and I turned on the outside light. I could see him through the glass panels in the door, with his clip-board in hand.

I simply waved sideways and shook my head from side to side simutaneously, and called out in a loud, firm voice; NO.

Then turned off the porch light and went back to the table.

Rude? or assertive?

I'm hoping the vote is for assertive (stop laughing).

I felt sorry for the dude later; after all, he's trying to earn a buck, but I'm a poor responder to advertising of any kind - especially a cold call of any kind.

My phone technique for hanging up on them is down to about 4.3 seconds now.

So, how much of a pr*ck are you in these situations? How do you handle cold-callers at the door? Can you beat me?

 

[Rob Williams]

I'm not wearing a hat at the moment, Marc.
Do you know why?
Because I've taken my hat off to the Master.
You did the guy on the porch a favour. You allowed him to move on to the next prospect without wasting time waiting for your "Do you like sex and travel" questionaire.
4.3 seconds? I think you can do a bit better than that. Surely?
I vote Not Rude. Pragmatic, but not rude.

 

[Rockstar]

Please agree here.......................


Rude? or assertive?

Well that depends if your intention was to be rude or assertive. Simple as that. If you acted without negativity then you were assertive - I would say.

 

[Somesh]

I think if that guy understands his profession then as Rob said he should be thankful to you for not wasting his time. No one likes cold callers just at dinner time. Not rude in my views.

 

[Petal]

It would go with the territory with these guys. Maybe on his scale you were downright polite

 

[willair]

I'm probably the most cynical person here.

Please agree here.......................

I'm happy to help anyone in need generally, but there are many who would take advantage in life these days.

The other night we had a cold-caller come to the door. Right at the moment we served dinner. Not that this matters; he was done before he began.

He knocked at the door, and I turned on the outside light. I could see him through the glass panels in the door, with his clip-board in hand.

I simply waved sideways and shook my head from side to side simutaneously, and called out in a loud, firm voice; NO.

Then turned off the porch light and went back to the table.

Rude? or assertive?

I'm hoping the vote is for assertive (stop laughing).

I felt sorry for the dude later; after all, he's trying to earn a buck, but I'm a poor responder to advertising of any kind - especially a cold call of any kind.

My phone technique for hanging up on them is down to about 4.3 seconds now.

So, how much of a pr*ck are you in these situations? How do you handle cold-callers at the door? Can you beat me?

A very simple way is to put a sign on the front gate of your property
"No Hawkers Or Door To Door Salespeople" that fixes the problem as most
understand the law of trespass..imho willair..

 

[steveadl]

Rude? or assertive?

I'm hoping the vote is for assertive (stop laughing).

Whatever you want to classify it as, I'm up there with you Marc. Thought I've got the hangup to a lazy 2 secs I reckon.

When they come into my store, I just say straight out "no thanks" or "not interested." Most accept this and turn around, but every now and again you have a persistent one, and I just stand there saying "no thanks..... no thanks..... no thanks"

My favourite is the look of the telco sellers when I say "not interested."

"What, you're not interested in saving 10-20% on your communications?"

Nup!

 

[vbplease]

I felt sorry for the dude later; after all, he's trying to earn a buck,

You're really a softie Marc

There are other ways for a guy to earn a buck while respecting one's privacy and not interrupting meal time, family time, or whatever..

My dad would even get upset if the phone rang at dinner time... friends would get a blunt "hello, goodbye", and telemarketers would get abused to no end..

 

[wylie]

At the house I was painting a few weeks ago I had an electricity chappy knock on the door. I answer, covered in paint (I use myself as a dropsheet ), paintbrush in hand, and he tries to convince me I can switch to a different provider.

Before he gets ten words out, I hold up my hand politely to stop him and say "I don't live here. I am painting the house."

He doesn't skip a beat, but continues his (obviously learnt by rote) spiel. I say again "I don't live here. I will never, ever have the electricity connected here. I am painting the house."

He just kept going. I kept stopping him until finally he gave up. Was rather amusing . He just wanted to make a sale, no matter what obstacles I put in front of him. He didn't listen at all.

No wonder people get sick of these cold callers.

I wasn't rude, but I was assertive. I don't know if I could wave anyone away without opening the door, but at home, when this happens, I generally start speaking before they can open their mouths. I am never rude to them, because you don't know whether they have a nasty streak, and I am not a rude person anyway.

I reckon if you were not rude to him, he got the message early and that is ok.

 

[Electro]

You'll be suprised how their persistance pays off a lot of the time.

I worked as a door-to-door 3 mobile salesman when I was still studying. I did it for a whole of three weeks - Couldn't stand the slammed doors and "assertive/rude" no's .

Some of the guys I walked around with were amazing to watch. There was this one indian guy who I worked along side that would close a deal that I would have thought would no way go through - the person was definately not interested initially. Sometimes he would persist and end up selling 2-3 phones to a person who initially wanted nothing to do with us.

They would easily sell 50+ phone/plans (@ $100 commision each mind u) per week.

 

[battler]

How do you handle cold-callers at the door? Can you beat me?

I'll have a go,

I just ask them if they've got 50 bucks,

and if they say yes, I say good, for 50 bucks you get 10 minutes,

hang on till I get a seat!!

 

[wylie]

My hubby, when he was about 18 - trying to get away from his folks, went along to a "make money easy" information evening. Initially turn out was about 80 people, next night down to about 20, third night told to bring a bag with a couple of days' clothing. Still hadn't been told what it was about, but he went back and he and the other four or so chaps were flown to different parts of Australia to sell film processing door to door.

Customers were "given" a camera and had to send away and pay for the processing. He was flown to Mt Isa and thought the product was crap (and he is definitely NOT a salesman type personality) so he talked the first household out of signing up, but they fed him.

He was fed by each household that he approached, and didn't sell a thing.

Ended up staying in Mt Isa for four years in the mines because they wouldn't pay for him to return to Brisbane. We often laugh about his little adventure.

 

[grossreal]

hi bayview
I am the opposite
I get them to give me their mobil number and tell them that I will ring them back and get them to join amway.
for me I see something are the total opposite to you
why
they wish to work
they are walking the street to work
they are ringing at 6.00 oclock or on the doorstep
why
because they want to work
what better person to work with then that
are they motivated
and I would love to hear their dream
yes
have they had knock backs
yes they just got one from you.
so they understand that part of the business
can they relate to having it tough to explain some thing
yes
if you can't understand or see that you have not a liability stood infront of you but an asset then I am not sure what you can see
it would be better that you ask them a few questions for me
a
do you like what you are doing
and
b
would you like to make spare income.
c
have you got a mobil number as I will get some one to ring you and thanks very much for comming to my door (also if possible smile)
and then pm me all the details
and I am sure that you will have made one person on ss very happy if that person turns out to be a diamond

 

[our obsession]

I don't consider that rude.

If I was into the cold call thingy occupation and you reacted like so, not a problem, Mr OO would probably give you a run for your 4.3 sec phone tech, I think they get one word out and he is; "no thanks mate"- gone.

I probably react a little slower, just had a thought though, back on your caller; what if it was the delivery guy for a free sample of a dozen bottles of Jacobs Creek Shiraz 2004?

 

[sunshine]

LOL OO. I was thinking along the same lines as you. My thought was what if he was delivering something? Too bad you didn't find out.

Of course I would open the door, well actually they can't get to the front door as I have a long driveway and a very big security gate. Finally safe from those other door knockers that used to visit on a regular basis at the other PPOR.

Not rude in my book Marc, but you may have missed out on something good.

Sunshine

 

[skater]

I vote not rude. Sheesh, you were positively welcoming. As soon as I see it's not someone I know, I say "not interested" and close the door." If one of my kids answers the door to a salesperson (they are a lot nicer than me), I usually get "There's someone at the door for you MUM", I usually ask who it is and they will say something like "Oh, it's someone from Optus, Telecom, whatever, and before they say anything else I tell them "You handle it". If they don't, and I have to get up from whatever it is that I have to do, I get annoyed and just shut the door. No explanation, nothing. It is rare these days that the kids don't politely tell the person "no thankyou" because they are embarrassed when Mum has to get up and close the door.

 

[Project1080]

Bayview,
That was me at the door. I just came to read your meter but I accidently drove my van into your car. As Maxwell Smart would say, " Sorry about that".

Yes, I have the overseas call centres for Electricity companies at my door all the time. They're damn pushy too. Now I just tell them "I signed a contract with the other company only last week". And when they say "but it's not on my form", then I reply "That's why I won't use your company, you can't even keep up - Have a nice evening".

You did well Bayview.

The best one I have ever witnessed was when I was much younger. A mate's dad hated the owners of Weetbix at his door, so this is what he did. This is so true it is unbelievable.

He opened the front door starkers. Yes that was the look on their faces. I think two of them had a heart attack, the other just had a stroke. We cacked ourselves for a week.

But blow me down, they returned a week later. I think the third one just wanted another stroke.

Anyway, he's starkers again but this time gets his shotgun out and opens the door standing there like big Arnie the Terminator. He didnt even say a word. Didn't need to.

We never saw them again. Pity. It was fun while it lasted.

Project 1080.

The project: 10 IPS in 80 mths.

 

[Lily House]

Naked with a gun - so funny.


I appreciate that these people are trying to earn a living - but not at night.
They should not approach your home after dark (which I assume it was if you had to turn the light on). Not on.
Wouldn't have been a delivery person - their job is in daylight hours.

 

[Shazntaj]

That's hilarious.
I on the other hand can't bring myself to be rude as much as they sh*t me. I just love it when you're out shopping and they're waiting at the bottom of the escalator waiting to strike. They'res only so many directions you can turn to pretend that you just didn't notice them before it becomes obvious. One things for sure never make eye contact. And even then you're not safe if they call out to you. Damn

 

[luvvit]

Slightly different but I spent 3 years cold calling business to business.. man those receptionists can be harsh!! but I must admit, I REALLY dont like being bothered at home.

got the obligitory phone call from an Indian call centre from a guy named Jason (yeah right.... ) who asked for my girlfriend (who has the account) when I told him that she up and left me (she hadn't... but I wanted to see what happened) AND I started sobbing on the phone... in a very calm voice he told me he was sorry for my loss.... and was I now the account holder in the house and had I considered using Optus for my long distance calls?

gotta love an optimist eh?