Imagine yourself in the middle of a very important deadline at work and suddenly, the phone rings. You pick it up and find yourself caught in a cold call that you just cannot get out of. Cold calling is a marketing process of trying to gain prospective customers or clients. This is usually done on people who are not expecting a call from the organization, hence the term “cold”. This type of sales process is also generally known as telemarketing. A cold call is a hard sell for something that you usually never need, so why do people continue to do it? Are there ways to stop receiving cold calls? Whether it is annoying, abusive or an obvious scam, you can actually reduce the amount of cold callers in the workplace.
One of the easiest ways to do it is to set up your office and phone systems so that you will never be bothered by them. Have a receptionist act as a gatekeeper to filter all the calls coming in your company. They should have specific training not to just give away your direct line or not transfer any call over without your permission. A lot of times the caller cannot be easily rid of. For these situations, setting up a special mailbox specifically designated for cold calls often does the trick. It completely depends if your company wants those messages screened or not, but since it’s especially for those kinds of calls, a “delete all” would suffice when it’s full.
Another way is to ask to be put on their do-not call list. You should state your name and your phone number when this is being done. If anyone from that organization calls again, get the caller’s name and phone number, make not of the date and time when the class was placed, and complain to the organization’s compliance officer, the SEC, and the FINRA. It is important to note that once you’re on a firm-specific do-not-call-list, the firm nor any of its employees are no longer allowed to call you even if there has been some established business relationship in the past.
However, some cold calls do not come directly from organizations. There are a lot of times when the “dirty work” is outsourced to marketing firms that have business phone systems and data specifically catered for the needs of their customers. These callers usually have more tricks up their sleeves when it comes to getting through and setting up appointments, so you have to be wary. What helps sometimes is to stop them before they completely start. A line like “Is this a cold call? I’m sorry but I do not take cold calls. What’s your name and the name of your company? Please put me on your do-not call list.” usually stops them in their tracks. Not warming up to cold callers is also a good tactic because they will take your manners as an invitation to make a sale. If they continue to hound you, here are the authorities to report to:
- Federal Trade Commission
You may file an online complaint at www.donotcall.govor call: Phone: (888) 382-1222 (toll-free)
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Investors may file a complaint electronically at the SEC Investor Complaint Centeror call or fax:
Phone: (800) 732-0330 (toll-free) Fax: (202) 772-9295
- FINRA
Investors may file a complaint electronically at the FINRA Investor Complaint Centeror call or fax:
Phone: (240) 386-HELP (4357) Fax: (866) 397-3290
- Your State’s Securities Regulator
Investors may file a complaint electronically at the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) Complaint Centeror call: Phone: (888) 846-2722 (toll-free)