First off, let me just apologize if you cold call people trying to peddle investment opportunites. I'm sure you are a cool person that is the exception to the rule. Now, I have somehow managed to get on a call list for high-yield investment opportunities and am stuck in this loop of phone calls from people. What's worse is that the calls are on my business line which I happen to answer with my name. So, they go something like this... "Hi, Jeff. This is ______ and I have you as potential high-yield investor and I'd like to tell you a little bit about _________ which could return you 50 percent blah, blah, blah..." So, my first thing is "Well, I'm sorry, but I am not an investor. My name was mistakenly added to a list that has caused me to receive phone calls from people like yourself when I am in no position to make any investments whatsoever. I'm sorry you wasted your time on the call." Usually, that ends with me then hanging up. However, a couple of times I've stayed on the line to listen and these guys start getting pissed at me. They start asking about what investments I have (which I won't disclose). One guy said, "You probably are in some low-paying mutual funds but if you want be stupid and throw your money away, go ahead." One guy actually CALLED BACK when I hung up and proceeded to tell me how foolish I was to not accept his advice and that hanging up on him was really a crappy thing to do. You know, if I had a penny to invest, I wouldn't give it to one of these slime bags...ever. Out of all the calls I've had (and there have been at least a couple a week for the past six months), only one or two guys (and they are ALL men) have honestly been nice to me and understood. The rest either had to be hung up on or were real jerkoffs (or both). So, I have no freakin' idea how I got on the list or how to get off and it is freakin' irritating.
I worked as a telemarketer one summer, and I have to say, that for the most part these people that are being rude to you probably have some jerk manager standing over their shoulder telling them what to do. The pressure to keep sales up is immense, and often times if your sales are too low, you can get sent home in the middle of your shift. I'm sure with all of the new do not call lists the pressure is even greater at many of these companies...
I can definitely appreciate that. I just don't get how telling me I'm stupid is going to help you make any money. Maybe shaming works for a small percentage of people, but, personally, it just makes me want to kick the guy's ass!
take it from someone who works at an brokerage... the only way to get a brokerage to stop calling is to a) ask him what his full name is and tell him (and, btw, it's almost always a "he") you're going to record the conversation. if he's stupid enough to stay on the line... b) tell him you're going to call the NASD, SIPC, and SEC if he - or anyone from his company - ever calls you again. that'll stop that company from calling immediately.
DNC lists mean nothing to brokerages. how do you tell a guy who bangs out 200+ phone calls a day to x-reference every single number against a list before he calls? the pressure shouldn't be on the brokerages. it should be on the the lead brokers that push these lists of #s.
I would never invest with someone I met over the phone. That is crazy...you want to build a bit of trust with someone first. DD
OK, here is a reprise of RocketMan Tex's "how to have fun with telephone salespeople". Step 1 - Let them get into their spiel for 30 seconds or so Step 2 - Interrupt them to let them know you have something cooking in the oven and that you will be right back Step 3 - Pick up the phone every 2 minutes or so to see if they are still hanging on. Step 4 - If they are still hanging on after 10 minutes, hang up on them. They are wasting your time, and your time is money. If they are going to waste your time, they deserve to have their time wasted as well.
Ahhhhhh. Back to this again. First, anyone who calls you about a "high yield investment" is trying to sell you a junk bond from a "Boiler Room" type of firm. Semantics. While some of these will pan out, it's better to throw funny money at these and not your life savings. I never worked at a Boiler Room type of brokerage house, but I have good friends that started out that way, and they are quite successful showing people sound portfolio starategies. Unfortunately, you've got to start somewhere. I'm lucky these days. Most of my leads come from referrals. The only "cold calls" I make are ones I've purchased off the net. And these people had to fill out a form for me to call them. If they say they're not interested, I send that lead back to my source, and I get my money back. No big whoop. It sounds to me like you've become a victim of the Cole's reverse directory. If your zip is in an affluent area, you will get these calls. I guess my point is that these people do have to start on the ground floor. When I started, I simply stated that my partnership only dealt with assets of $250k or more, and I could continue the conversation if they qualified. If they said no, I thanked them for their time and moved on. There are decent ways to cold call. But don't be too hard on these guys. They get told no or get hung up on 90% of the time, and it can grate on you being the cold-caller, as well.
thank you. why people don't qualify harder is beyond me. accredited/non-accredited... yes or no? no = goodbye.
My friend had this job years ago. He hated it. ... Sorry, that's the only contribution I have for this thread.
just give the phone to a child and let him mess around with the telemarketer. I always give it to my 4 yr old cousin, Its quite entertaining.
I'm polite with these guys to a point. I will politely say I am not interested and tell them I have to go. If they continue trying a sales pitch on me, it is not my fault that I have to hang up on them.
Jeff, you may want to take a look at getting an answering service to screen all your calls. There are some services that charge you by the minute. And you can have them have specific instructions to screen callers and if they are infact a legit call you can have the rep at the answering service connect them to whatever line you want them too. Or they can email you the information they have collected on the calls or fax as well. I used to work at one so I know how the whole thing works. And yes the bulk of my calls each day were from telemarketers.
Plus, if you're going to invest, you should put your money into my next movie. There's an excellent chance you'll never get your money back, but I will let you meet Eryn Brooke live and in person.
I actually ran an answering service for five years in the 90's. That really isn't a good option for us because I don't really want our calls screened. My caller ID broke on me and that is probably the quickest solution. mrpaige: Surprisignly, about a month ago, one of the investor calls was for an investment in a "big Hollywood picture." I'm amazed at the crap they call with. One guy asked if I wanted to invest in the purchase of a high rise building worth $50 million. Oh, hell yeah, I'm all over that!
