Do you think that you are the only cold caller they have had that day? if I were to listen to every cold caller that phoned me i would waste at least half my day every single day. Now if you are prepared to waste my time like that then you must also be prepared for me to be rude to you should you start mumbling, lieing, misquoting, misleading me or just simply come across as so many cold callers do with a cocky arrogant manner.
Surely this begs the question how are they wasting our time - and more to the point, how effective we are in dealing with cold callers?
If you don't politely, but firmly, state that you are not interested in their service early on, they'll take the window of opportunity to sell you their service / product - and that's when it can get nasty!
If the caller should fail to effectively tell you what they are selling within the first words of what they're saying, then yes, they may not be the most efficient at their job. This doesn't mean you can lament them or be rude to them. You simply ask them what they are selling, and then if it's of interest, ask them to tell you more, or if it's not of interest, tell them it's not of interest, get them to call you back in the future if it's something you'll consider later on, or just say that you don't wish for them to call you back again, but thank them for their time.
At most, I'd expect the above to take one or two minutes of my time. It's very little, in reality.
Basically, a little bit of professional courtesy goes a long way, and I completely agree with the OP - there is no need for people to be rude to cold callers.
If the cold caller is polite - be polite back. If the company policy is not to accept cold callers, or the service they are selling / providing is of no use, simply state this once, politely but firmly, and that is the end of the conversation. If the cold caller, at this point, is persistent, you simply repeat the above, and put the phone down. Yes, putting the phone down is rude, but it ensures you don't say anything rude to them, and it's a quick, clean way to terminate the call. You've given them the chance to say thank you and hang up, but they haven't, and it saves a lot of time for you.
If the cold caller is rude - two wrongs don't make a right! Being rude back solves nothing. Simply state the company policy on cold calling e.g. we don't do business with cold callers, but thank you - and simply put the phone down.
As I said, putting the phone down on a cold caller is rude in itself - but it's a last resort. If they are persistent and won't end the call naturally, you can do this e.g. thank you for calling, but we are not interested in your service, good bye (put the phone down).
I hate with a passion unprofessional cold callers and will be rude to them whenever I can, I will use every tactic at my disposal to discourage them from ever contacting me again, send me cash for my time then you can pitch me whatever product you want and I shall remain curtious throughout. I have done business with cold callers in the past, the cold callers I do business with tend to be extremely professional and this comes across within the first few seconds, come across unprofessional and pay the price for that become professional and I will gladly listen to you.
regards
Gary
Absolutely agree with you here. The professional cold callers do succeed, because many of us will do business with them - there is that rare time when what they phone about is of relevence to us, and it might even be a good product or service!