Help with cold calls

[Hmmmmm]

I work at a major international company in mid-level management.  My department has about 500 employees scattered globally there are probably 20 people at my level with different areas of responsibility.  I have been working at my company for over 13 years and have held 6 or more roles/titles.  For the last 6 years, I've been using a very generic title because I got tired of having new business cards printed... example Director or Marketing.  My name and contact information has been sold to companies with various versions of my different titles.  I receive at minimum 2 cold calls per day and 5 or 6 emails soliciting business.   

My problem is when one of these cold calls goes like this which is about 75% of them:

Me:  HMMMM Last Name
Caller:  Hi, is this HMMM Last Name?
Me:  Yes it is.
Caller:  Hi, How are you.
Me:  I'm well.
Caller:  That's good.  Did I catch you at a good time?
Me:  May I ask what this is concerning.
Caller:  My name is X and I'm calling on behalf of 22 company.
Me:  OK, how can I help you?
Caller:  22 comapny provides blue, yellow, and green services and I'd like to discuss how we can do business with your company.
Me:  I'm sorry, I'm not responsibile for those activities at my company.
Caller:  continues to explain how 22 company can provide value to us.
Me:  I said I was not involved in those activities.
Caller:  Well, your the Director of Marketing, aren't you?
Me:  Yes, I'm one of several but I do not have those roles.
Caller:  Well, what do you do?

By the time we get to this point in the conversation, I'm irritated I've spent 4 or more minutes already on this conversation and that I now feel they are challenging me about whether I'm telling the truth about not having those roles.  I'm also irritated that they have researched so little about our company that they wouldn't understand that we would have many Directors f Marketing, not just one. 

These bolded statements are word for word responses I get on at least half of these conversations. 

Normally I answer a few more of their questions and try to politely disengage.  I do not provide contact details for my peers.  But this morning I was not in a good mood and my response was "Why are you challenging me on what my role in the organization is?  I said I am not involved.  Goodbye."  and I hung up. 

I don't want to be rude, but I'm loosing patience. 

Any suggestions for different phrases to use to get it across earlier in the conversation or to accurately convey they are wasteing their time and mine?

[NyaChan]

I would add "So, I can't help you.  Have a nice day"  to this and hang up.

I work at a major international company in mid-level management.  My department has about 500 employees scattered globally there are probably 20 people at my level with different areas of responsibility.  I have been working at my company for over 13 years and have held 6 or more roles/titles.  For the last 6 years, I've been using a very generic title because I got tired of having new business cards printed... example Director or Marketing.  My name and contact information has been sold to companies with various versions of my different titles.  I receive at minimum 2 cold calls per day and 5 or 6 emails soliciting business.   

My problem is when one of these cold calls goes like this which is about 75% of them:

Me:  HMMMM Last Name
Caller:  Hi, is this HMMM Last Name?
Me:  Yes it is.
Caller:  Hi, How are you.
Me:  I'm well.
Caller:  That's good.  Did I catch you at a good time?
Me:  May I ask what this is concerning.
Caller:  My name is X and I'm calling on behalf of 22 company.
Me:  OK, how can I help you?
Caller:  22 comapny provides blue, yellow, and green services and I'd like to discuss how we can do business with your company.
Me:  I'm sorry, I'm not responsibile for those activities at my company.
Caller:  continues to explain how 22 company can provide value to us.
Me:  I said I was not involved in those activities.
Caller:  Well, your the Director of Marketing, aren't you?
Me:  Yes, I'm one of several but I do not have those roles.
Caller:  Well, what do you do?

By the time we get to this point in the conversation, I'm irritated I've spent 4 or more minutes already on this conversation and that I now feel they are challenging me about whether I'm telling the truth about not having those roles.  I'm also irritated that they have researched so little about our company that they wouldn't understand that we would have many Directors f Marketing, not just one. 

These bolded statements are word for word responses I get on at least half of these conversations. 

Normally I answer a few more of their questions and try to politely disengage.  I do not provide contact details for my peers.  But this morning I was not in a good mood and my response was "Why are you challenging me on what my role in the organization is?  I said I am not involved.  Goodbye."  and I hung up. 

I don't want to be rude, but I'm loosing patience. 

Any suggestions for different phrases to use to get it across earlier in the conversation or to accurately convey they are wasteing their time and mine?

[O'Dell]

I would add "So, I can't help you.  Have a nice day"  to this and hang up.

Yep. Don't wait for them to end the conversation because that won't happen. End it yourself.

[lowspark]

I don't get a lot of sales calls at work but every once in a while, somehow, they dial my number. I answer the same as I do at home.

Thank you but I'm not interested.
And instantly hang up. Even if they are still talking.

These are, after all, cold calls. I don't see any reason to engage in any kind of long conversation with someone from whom I've requested nothing and with whom I have no intention of doing business.

[Zilla]

Me:  HMMMM Last Name
Caller:  Hi, is this HMMM Last Name?
Me:  Yes it is.
Caller:  Hi, How are you.
Me:  I'm well.
Caller:  That's good.  Did I catch you at a good time?
Me:  May I ask what this is concerning.
Caller:  My name is X and I'm calling on behalf of 22 company.
Me:  Okay and this is concerning?
Caller:  22 comapny provides blue, yellow, and green services and I'd like to discuss how we can do business with your company.
Me:  You will need to contact So and So, let me transfer you back to the operator OR here is the email address. Or if you don't know who handles it, "I do not have the authority to authorize that nor do I know who it would be.  I must go now." and hang up.



It's not rude to hang up as they are taught to overcome any objections of any kind and will waste your time.  Their goal is to keep you on the phone.  Just hang up after that statement.  And if they call again, invoke the please add me to the do not call list and hang up again. 

[RebeccainGA]

I'm not sure I'd go into that much detail - I get those calls, too, as my company deals with the Federal government and our phone numbers are attached to work we do, which is displayed on a publicly available web site. I just tell them "I'm sorry, we don't do business with companies that make cold calls to us." and hang up - it has the virtue of being absolutely true (we send out a RFP when we have work that we need a new vendor for).

[Outdoor Girl]

I think I'd do the same thing I do at home:  'We're not interested.  Thank you.'  And hang up.

[Judah]

I think I'd do the same thing I do at home:  'We're not interested.  Thank you.'  And hang up.

I add, "and please remove me from your phone list." before I hang up.  I just got off one of these calls.    I don't engage, I just tell them I'm not interested, remove me, and end the call.

[Hmmmmm]

I have never thought about having my corporate provided phone number put on a no call list.  I'll have to find out if the laws apply to corporate phone numbers.

Based on every ones input, I'm feeling better about being abrupt with the callers.  I think I've been trying too hard for a professional interaction because my actions do reflect on my company.  I have no issue of cutting them off when they call my home number.

[artk2002]

It's not rude to refuse to engage.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not responsible for those functions. Have a nice day. *click*"

The point is that you don't need the other person's permission to disengage from the conversation. I know that feels rude, but it's not.

[Judah]

I just remembered something I've done.  Our phones are a VOIP system and that allows us a lot of flexibility.  I can set it up so that certain numbers go straight to voicemail and never ring my phone, sort of like a spam filter for email.  I had a couple of very persistent vendors who would not take my number off their call lists, so I have them go directly to VM.  They've since given up on me.   

[Hexteacher]

Am I a bad person because I interrupt the cold callers by singing happy-birthday to them and then hang up?  (Bonus points if you catch their name and use it in the song.)

[Judah]

Am I a bad person because I interrupt the cold callers by singing happy-birthday to them and then hang up?  (Bonus points if you catch their name and use it in the song.)

I do think that's rude.  Just end the conversation and hang up.

[lowspark]

Yeah I have to say that in my opinion the best thing to do is end the conversation as quickly as possible. Prolonging it simply for the purpose of making the caller feel bad is rude and a waste of both people's time.
Thus saying "Thank you, I'm not intereted" and immediately hanging up, regardless of the fact that the caller may still be talking to try to convince you, is, to me, the best solution and not rude at all. You make it clear the conversation is over and you hang up. If the caller refuses to acknowledge that, that doesn't make you rude.

[Lynnv]

I handle work cold calls the same way I do home cold calls.  I hang up.  I don't talk over the person to say goodbye or not interested-I just hang up mid-spiel.  Just as I close the door if I get a solicitation from a door-to-door sales person. 

I don't owe them a conversation,  I don't owe them my time.  And I don't owe them an explanation.  I figure they make money on sales.  I am not buying anything.  Therefore, the best thing to do for both of us is get them moved on to bother the next person on their list.