Telemarketers just don’t get it…

By | March 5, 2003

I don’t know if I should post a link to this article or not. More traffic might make the guy think he is right, when he is so clearly wrong that it baffles me he can’t see it. Who am I talking about? Rich Tehrani, editor of Technology Marketing Corporation, a webzine dedicated to telemarketers.

In this article, Mr. Tehrani talks about how evil a Federal no-call list would be. He talks about how this would make business over the telephone impossible, would cost millions of jobs, and would be harmful to the country. He seriously seems to believe that telemarketers have a right to call people and try to sell them stuff.

Even worse is Tehrani’s protestations that it should be the consumer’s responsibility to keep from receiving calls. He lists the various devices on the market that can be used to keep from receiving telemarketing calls (such as the Telezapper). His basic argument seems to be that telemarketers right to call people outweighs a person’s right to privacy.

This is where telemarketers Just Don’t Get It. The no call list states is not mandatory, and is not the default. People have to request their name be added to the list. If someone wants to receive sales calls, they simply won’t sign up for the no-call list. Telemarketers can be assured that the people who can be called actually want to be called. People who don’t want to be bothered by telemaketers will sign up for the list, so telemarketers won’t waste their time calling people who are never going to fall for the sales pitch. In the end, it should be a win-win situation. Telemarketing companies should see a rise in their sales-to-calls ratios, and won’t have to deal with as many people yelling or hanging up on them. Those of us who don’t want to be bothered won’t be. Telemarketing companies should be backing this initiative, not fighting against it.

I live in Colorado, a state with a no-call list. I signed up for the list before the law went into effect; we haven’t had a telemarketing call since. That is good for me, and is good for the companies that used to have to deal with me.

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