What I did about a Telemarketing Call. After all, I'm an INTERNET Entrepreneur!

This is a draft of my thoughts which I've just submitted for publication. Perhaps it will resonate with some of you! :) It's all true, by the way...

This morning, I received a call from “Unknown Caller” as the caller ID displayed. My first reaction – as I’m sure many of you may recognize from your own experiences – was to ignore the call. “After all,” I thought smugly, “who would be calling me without allowing me to see his or her phone number?”

With shame, I admit to you that my first thought was, ‘Hmmm… must be someone trying to sell me something.” And my next shameful thought was, “I’ll just let the machine pick it up – after all, I’m busy working on my internet marketing strategy.”

Ahh, yes. That obnoxious, self-righteous thought that “I’m an internet marketing expert. I don’t have time for sales calls…” Shame on me!

Ok. Important Lesson #1:
Ask yourself – and please be honest with your answer, because no one but you will know how you answer: If or when you receive a similar phone call, what is your first thought? Do you think similarly, as I did? Or, do you look at the phone, smile, and think, “This may be the very call that is going to bring me some new business or other good news!”

There’s no need to discuss your answer. I’m glad to report that I corrected my initial thought, released the smug attitude, and began quickly thinking in terms of the call being one that changes my life for the better.

Let’s move on…

Fortunately, my husband – who is a pretty wise guy (I mean that seriously), said, “It’s probably for you!” He answered the phone, and sure enough it was for me. Well, as it turns out it was a telemarketer after all! It was a woman who mentioned that she had my name as one who was interested in earning some extra money from home. She asked if that was the case with me.

I will step back just a moment and mention that I have had this call – or a variation of this call – at least 50 times within the last year. And why is that? Why, because I am interested in earning money from home – have been for years – and am probably on a list somewhere that shouts out: “Live One Here!” or “Call This One!”

Important Lesson #2:
If you are a business builder, in an internet marketing venture, in a direct sales or network marketing organization, or otherwise deal with prospects and customers – it really could be just about anyone on the phone. Yes, it could be a telemarketer. It could also be a prospect who found your website and just wanted to speak with a human to see if one was actually there.

So, the point is, you should not only expect these calls, but you should answer them. I’ll explain in a minute. First I acknowledge that I am well aware of the strategies that teach us to ignore the phone or turn it off when we are following a schedule designed to maximize efficiency. And I agree with that. I’m talking about other times.

You may be wondering why I believe you should “waste your time” talking with telemarketers and callers such as the one I spoke with this morning.

Here is Important Lesson #3 – and possibly the most important point:
Think about your business. Maybe some of you are in a business where you do not have to call people in order to gather customers or prospects – if so, lucky you.

But I’ll bet a lot of you do have to call people. You may need to invite people to a home business presentation, if that’s how your business works. You may need to call a company and get past the receptionist – who already knows you are in sales – to your eventual prospect.

So, here it was – not even 9:00 am, and this cheerful voice was calling me and asking if I was still interested in earning extra income from home. Wow! Right there – I had to give her 10 points – no, 100 points! Because here is the point:
She DID SOMETHING. She actually picked up the phone, and made the call.

Hey, I don’t know about you, but cold calling is NOT for me. I find myself feeling sick just thinking about it. But this morning, the caller woke up and told herself she was going to do it, and she did it. Just like that! Her voice was pleasant. Confident. Did she actually feel like smiling when she placed that call – probably only one of many? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Because her voice was smiling, and I could pick up on it.

Here is another question for you – again, only you need to know the answer: When you receive calls like that, and – assuming you answer them – how do you treat the caller? Do you hang up? Do you yell at the caller, telling him or her to never darken your telephone threshold ever again? Cuss at the caller?

If this is how you respond – or have responded in the past, why? Why respond in that way?

From a common sense, just plain ol’ good-manners, polite, golden-rule standpoint, it’s just plain rude. You probably wouldn’t talk to your best customer that way. You probably wouldn’t talk to your top producer that way. And, you probably wouldn’t talk with your next hot prospect that way. Would you?

Ahh. But, here, it wasn’t your customer. It wasn’t your top producer. And it wasn’t your next hot prospect. But – you were. You were the next hot prospect – or so the caller hoped. You were the potential next customer. You were the next potential top producer.

And so was I, when the phone rang, just before 9:00 this morning.

And so, you may be wondering how I answered the call.

I smiled before I spoke. Because – again, I had no way of knowing how this call might affect my life. I wanted to be prepared for it to affect my life in the best possible way! Plus, it’s always good to put a smile on your face before answering the phone – your smile shows in your voice.

I said, “Hello!” The caller gave me her well-practiced scripted question. I smiled and answered, “You are right! I have indeed been interested in earning extra money from home for a long time – and I’m glad to report that I’ve found a business that I’ve committed to, and am now concentrating on. I’ve decided to concentrate solely on that – so I will not be considering any other opportunities! But, I wish you the best of luck in your work!”

And it was true. Every word of it. I hope it gave the caller the strength and confidence to make the next call.

And I hope this little case-study has given you, dear reader and fellow entrepreneur, some food for thought as well. Because, one way or another – we are all hoping that the next prospects we call or run into will join our opportunity or buy our product. We are all hoping that the next people we speak with will treat us with respect, accept our invitation to our next home presentation, and have a smile in their voice when we make that call.