Today, I got a call from some telemarketer. Yes, we’re on the Do Not Call list, but my guess is that really has very little to do with anything.
Anyway, my new technique is to take the call with the express purpose of pitching to them whatever new feature or promotion we’ve created on the ActiveMusician site. And we actually have something pretty good going on right now. You can win a Fender Strat, amp, case, and cord simply by filling out a quick entry form. It’ll probably come down to only a few thousand entries, and the prize is worth about $1000 US, so in terms of the ratio of prize money to odds, it’s better than Powerball or any of those other sweepstakes-y types of deals.
Anyway, after the initial pitch from the telemarketer, I start in and it goes something like this:
- Me: Hey, do you or anyone you know play the guitar or want to start playing?
- Telemarketer: (small pause) Um …. no.
- Me: Well, do you or anyone you know want to win a free guitar and amp?
- Telemarketer: (longer pause) No …
- Me: Ok, well what about winning the guitar and amp, selling it, and then pocketing the money for anything you like. Does that sound good?
- Telemarketer: (even longer pause) Umm … No.
Now, I don’t know exactly where this person works, but I do know any workplace that either:
- inspires such ambivalence to winning free stuff
- or conversely, employs those that do not, nor do they know anyone who likes to win free stuff
well … then that is a place I do not want to work.
The flip side, of course, is that this type of reverse marketing (marketing to telemarketers) may now be so commonplace that it was the quickest way for him to get me off the phone.
Come to think of it, I guess he could have also just hung up, but that would be rude — maybe even for a telemarketer.
