I always answer unknown calls. I think the call center from India that pretends to be the IRS has me on speed dial.
What is your results with this social experiment so far?
Made some money, not a failure.
Initially, I wanted to develop it into a monster. Then we decided to sell, so I basically just put up a homepage and let it ride.
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You are hurting yourself if you never answer the phone. As annoying as telemarketing calls are, some customers will not leave a message and move on to the next company. I know this because people will say Iâm the first person they reached even though Iâm not the first one they called. I donât know how often I secure business from this type of customer but I feel it is very high.
One trick to get rid of telemarketers is they almost always start with âCould I speak with the business owner/ Mr xxxxxx (ownerâs name)â. I say no thank you and hang up. If it was a customer Iâd imagine they will call back very mad and then I would explain they sounded like a telemarketer. But you can just tell after taking dozens of their type of call. Also if they donât say anything for a moment and you hear that ring noise, that is them trying to get on the line. I just hangup.
If it is any type of automated message, such as something about Google, I hang up immediately. Waiting for them to tell you what number you need to press to be removed is a waste of time.
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I try to make it a habit to call back as soon as I can, or at least last thing of the day. If they call after 6:00 p.m., I call first thing in the morning before I head out.
I sometimes get caught off guard when they answer my call back with âOh thank you so much for calling me back.â My first thought is - why wouldnât I? Then I hear stories about people never get their calls returned.
Makes no sense to me except perhaps people are just too busy. But then again, I always have space on my calendar; if no room this week then in the next week or two down the road.
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I always call back the same day. Seems a total waste of marketing money not to return calls and I hate to waste money.
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ya but his schedule is booked, he only puts them on a waiting list anyway
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We use a phone answering service so almost all (not usually weekends or calls after 6 pm) calls are answered. Too much distraction if youâre trying to handle all calls yourself
I was about to say the same think his wait list is 1 yr out. And itâs not because he has cheap prices. He is the most expensive.
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Thanks for the advice with telemarketers.
Old school window dude use to NEVER return his vm. His son was even worse at it.
I picked up so many resi jobs just cause we answered the phone. Often the same story. âwe loved Bill but after leaving him 3 messages with no reply I am insultedâ
I would make all kind of bs excuses for âbillâ and would get
âyeah, well he could have at least calledâ
Feelings matter
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If you hear that their regular cleaner is not returning calls that means they canât/wonât do the job. They just avoid facing the customer.
Best case they are too booked. Worst case it is a bad client. One guy in our area always tells people he broke a leg when he wants to get rid of a client. So if they mentioned I used so-so but he has a broken leg now, I tell them we are booked.
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Thatâs a nice little code there I like it
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Yes, because I usually get the job. When new customers call they want someone live to answer. If they leave a message when I am busy I call back as soon as possible. Early bird get the worm!
Man, I never understood how everyone stays so freaken busy they are sold out for months in advance. Iâve been doing this close to 11 years and even when I had 7 guys working for me with 2 crews at the same time Iâve NEVER even had a whole week sold out.
You guys are killing it!
And hell yes I call everyone back. When the phone rings thats money! Or its the wife. Either way, gotta answer it.
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Yesterday while doing onsite coordination with a potential carpet cleaning client we learned that there will be a tile demo/restore job in the adjacent common area in the mall. The client wanted to postpone because she wasnât confident that the tile masons would properly mask to keep demo dust out of her shop.
So I started venting about painters who donât properly mask windows.
Client "Oh, you clean windows? The local guy hasnt added us to his schedule for Spring and Fall cleaning. Wait, he never did a Fall cleaning, why donât you clean them this Spring."
Malcolm "Absolutely."
No, they are not tightwad, difficult people to work with.
This work will be at the nearest community with a sizeable population (>40K in the area) so I am stoked about expanding my service area.
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Takes a second to hit re-dial. Only reason I would not call someone back is if I recognized the number and knew I didnât want to work for that person ever again, and there is only one person that fits that description.
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You have to love it tho when you get a customer email a quote request to be called at 5pm and then doesnât answer the phone or have a voice mail, I tried 3 times.
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This is basic of getting more clients, pick up the phone! 
Otherwise they will be calling some other guy. Do you care? I do.
And about telemarketing. For my cell I use FREE app called Mr. Number! I love it. It blocks user-known spam and all junk
