I'm actually a pretty easy-going guy most of the time, but a few things tick me off.
The phone rings. I pick up the phone.
“Hello, this is John.”
Two or three seconds later …
**CLICK** “Uh, hello, is this John?”
At this point, I usually say “Yes, I said that before the machine connected you,” or “What's this about?” or just hang up.
If someone were on the line when I picked up the phone, they would have answered me within a second. But instead what happens is that there is an automatic dialer that detects when the person being called picks up the phone, and then routes the call to one of who-knows-how-many operators to handle whatever the company needs handled. It's a win for the company because they can handle a larger volume of calls with fewer workers, and probably keep the utilization ratio pretty high.
This is a poor business image to portray, though. I think this is as inconsiderate as a some busy executive having his/her assistant calling people up, and when they “get a live one” the assistant says, “Please hold, I'll connect you with Mr./Ms. So-and-So.”
The two- or three-second wait, in the grand scheme of things, isn't that long. But it bugs me to be put on hold when I'm the one being called, especially when I'm being sold something. I mean, if you want my business, why can't you call me and be on the phone when I answer? Is that too much to ask?
It probably isn't too much to ask, but there are enough people who will tolerate this mechanical, impersonal communication — or, at least they won't realize that it's being used on them — that it makes sense for companies to continue using it. They don't need to waste their time with me when they can get someone else who will buy a lot more than I ever would.
Maybe you'll be able to predict whether the person who's calling you is someone you want to talk to or not based on that extra two-second pause.
I'll admit that I don't bother to talk to telemarketers anymore; once I detect that they're a telemarketer – either by the "long click" or by them mangling my name – it's a quick hangup after two seconds spent figuring out that they aren't from an entity that I care about.