"You know," David cleared his throat, "I believe we should consider using less...
aggressive
techniques."
He felt all eyes glued on himâit's not possible for them to know, he thought in dread, they only stare at me wondering what the hell I'm talking about, notâand struggled to prevent his face from turning crimson.
"Define less aggressive, Mr. Preston," Mrs. Jackson said, her narrow green eyes seemingly penetrating David's very soul.
"Phone sells don't work anymore," David, timidly, continued, incapable of preventing his lower lip from trembling. "People either just don't answer, or, if they do, they hang up as soon as they realize it's a salesman on the other line."
"Success rates are still pretty good, though," Mrs. Jackson rebuked matter-of-factly. "Isn't that right, Mr. Benson?"
"Yes," Mr. Bensonâa small, bald man with brown eyes vastly enlarged behind his monstrous gogglesânodded frantically. "In our department, we have a success rate of
almost
3%; exceeding our initial projections by a decent margin."
"Be that as it may," David said, in response to Mrs. Jackson's scornful glare, "I still think we could use different techniques that will not only
reach
more people,
but
, will have significant positive effects on our results, too."
"And what
are
those mysterious magical techniques, Mr. Preston?" Mrs. Jackson asked, deliberately exaggerating her disinterest.
"If I may interrupt," Mr. Benson interjected, "Mr. Preston, we've used advertisement on every medium imaginable; TV, Internet, magazines, newspapers...yet, phone-sales
remain
our major source of new clients.
"Yes," he quickly added, as soon as David opened his mouth and raised his finger, "many people do perceive our tactics as
aggressive
, as you noted. However, our extensive training program has allowed our salesmen to be more persuasive, without being overly aggressive.
"And even though a lot of people just listen to what we have to tell them and then hang up, some of them do eventually visit our website and
buy
one of our packs. So, even if the sale doesn't come directly from the phone call, the phone calls
do
raise awareness of our services."
"That's good and all," David rubbed the bridge of his nose and crossed his legs, the silk thong squashing his genitals, "but, there are also
a lot
of complaints about our company online.
"Which becomes an even
more
pressing matter to address, if more people are looking the company up online following a phone call from our center. To be honestâ" he continued, desperate to reach in his pants and fix the goddamn thong squeezing itself tighter between his buttocks "â
I
wouldn't trust our company had I only read some of the online reviews."
"The reviews," Mrs. Jackson said, "are indeed bad and we're perfectly aware of it, Mr. Preston,
however
, they only refer to how annoyed some people are from receiving phone calls from us. I haven't seen any bad reviews regarding the quality of our services."
"True," David nodded. "But, I'd still not trust a company that appears so damn
desperate
to attract new customers; yes, I know," he hastily added, "we're the new kid in the block and we're competing with giants of Internet providers that have been around for ages,
but
, we should focus more on promoting the quality of our services, instead of holding meetings for how to increase sales numbers."
"We're working on
both
matters, equally," Mrs. Jackson rebuttedâDavid cowered in his leather chair, when she bit the corner of her lips quite viciously.
"I know," David coughed, "but, I..."
"Mr. Preston," Mrs. Jackson barked, "you're the head of customer support. You're responsible for handling negative reviews, complaints, all that."
"Precisely," David snapped his fingers. "And I've received a lot of emails from people asking that we stop calling them with new offersâboth existing customers and non-customers.
"And," he pointed a stiff finger at Mr. Benson, who was getting ready to rebuke, "I always make sure to file their numbers in the
not-to-call
list, as you call it. Yet, they always seem to get lost in the shuffle and end up in your
to-call
lists."
"Mistakes do happen," Mr. Benson shrugged with an inconspicuous smirk. "Nevertheless, we
are
actively trying to ensure that we only call people, who've shown interest in our services, or, whom we've
never
called before.
"Yes, mistakes do happen; but, perfecting the system is a long process. Eventually, we'll get it right and Mr. Preston will be able to stop worrying so much about a handful of scornful emails.
"Besides, David," he grinned, "if you think you've got it bad reading a few expletives in an email, you should hear what our poor salesmen and women have to listen to on a daily basis."
"Don't you think, then," David said, his voice going a pitch higher, "that it's time for a change? I mean, if most outgoing phone calls you make end up in a tirade of expletives toward our salesmen, then..."
"It's just part of the game, David," Mr. Benson maintained his wide smirk. "I've been doing this job for a
long
time; I've worked for phone centers for banks, hedge funds, collecting agencies, various kinds of e-shops...I could probably write a book the length of
War and Peace