{"id":50619,"date":"2019-12-18T01:15:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T01:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/aee\/aee-1280-telephone-english-polite-respectful-pushy\/"},"modified":"2023-04-25T15:42:45","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T15:42:45","slug":"aee-1280-telephone-english-polite-respectful-pushy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-1280-telephone-english-polite-respectful-pushy\/","title":{"rendered":"AEE 1280: Disconnect with Respect on the Phone"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"English<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Do you get a lot of calls from telemarketers?<\/p>\n

Do you find it difficult to deal with these pushy salespeople especially when you have to speak English to them?<\/p>\n

Sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you can\u2019t get this person off of the phone. This is very common in American culture.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to look at the best ways to handle a pushy salesperson, and how to end this call without being rude or abrupt.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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\"English<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n

We have a question about how to handle phone calls you don\u2019t really want.<\/p>\n

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Dear Lindsay and Michelle,<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

I have been listening to your podcast for more than three and a half years in order to keep up with my English. I came back to Japan after a three year assignment in LA. I want to thank you for your podcast! It is because of your podcast that I was able to achieve an excellent score on the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test last year after several attempts.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

One of the things I had difficulty with when I was living in the US was pushy sales phone calls. I usually received the phone calls at dinner time on weekends and could not decline the pushy offer as they never allow you to even interrupt their sales pitch. It seemed especially bad with the cable TV offers\u2013those were the worst! I usually ended up accepting the offer and later called them for cancellation. I wonder how natives deal with this kind of pushy sales call. I also had difficulties with declining the offer of a time share at a luxury resort as offered at the airport. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Being Japanese, it is very difficult to strongly reject such offers. It happens even in Japan, and it can be difficult.<\/strong> I hope you can give me some tips to deal with such occasions.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for your help<\/strong>!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n

Background On Dealing With This<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is a very common issue, as we have all dealt with pushy salespeople in some capacity.<\/p>\n

As a matter of fact we did an episode on this in the past that may be quite helpful. <\/p>\n

Check out Episode 650: What to Say to Pushy Salespeople in English<\/a><\/p>\n

This episode is more about dealing with a salesperson face to face\u2013and we\u2019re talking today about dealing with a salesperson over the phone.<\/a><\/p>\n

What this comes down to is knowing how to politely but effectively end a conversation over the phone.<\/p>\n

You almost have to cut off these people over the phone so that you don\u2019t get sucked into their sales pitch.<\/p>\n

You also have to know how to say no if you do take the time to listen to them, and that can be difficult.<\/p>\n

There are several layers of this, and so you want to be sure that you are thinking through your strategy before these annoying calls ever take place.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Options For Working Through These Calls<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When you find yourself stuck on a call with a pushy salesperson, you want to know the best strategy for handling that.<\/p>\n

Try to keep these options in mind and they will help you tremendously as you figure out the best way to handle these calls. <\/p>\n

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  1. Don\u2019t answer numbers you don\u2019t know<\/em>: <\/strong>It may sound like an obvious step, but this doesn\u2019t always help you to avoid the problem. If it looks like an unusual number or an \u201c800\u201d number then try to avoid it. If you\u2019re unsure with a number then send it to voicemail. If it\u2019s really important, then the person calling will leave a message. <\/li>\n
  2. Explain you aren\u2019t interested nicely<\/em>: <\/strong>It\u2019s always good to start off nice, though that may not work with some pushy salespeople. Remember these are actual people on the other end of the phone. If however it\u2019s a scam or an abrasive person, then that\u2019s a different story. Try to be nice at first, but sometimes you just have to be abrupt and there\u2019s no other choice. <\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Explain you aren\u2019t interested in a more abrupt way<\/em>: <\/strong>Nobody wants to be mean for no reason. Sometimes however it may be necessary unfortunately. If the person will not give up and they continue to be pushy, then you have to be more straightforward in your approach. You have to tell them straight and to the point that you are not interested and end in there.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Most of us don\u2019t want to go to option 3, but sometimes you have no choice.<\/p>\n

    It may feel uncomfortable going for option 3, but sometimes you have to go with it even if it\u2019s not your personality.<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    Working Through These Situations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    So what can you say if you happen to pick up one of these calls?<\/p>\n

    You may not have recognized the number, but now you\u2019re on the phone with one of these pushy salespeople.<\/p>\n

    What do you do or say now?<\/p>\n