I received a call from a market research company...

To conduct a survey on my 'satisfaction of telecommunications in my business'.

...yeah, I really had no idea either.

Salesy opener, way too friendly...his tone was 'off' & screamed:

'You may as well get rid of me - I literally have nothing of value for you.'

"Hi Scott how are you today? I'm calling from...blah blah blah."

Autopilot kicks in.

Me: "Sorry I'm in the middle of something, but I'm happy with my service. You can put that OK?"

Him: "But could I just run through a few questions?"

Me: "Er no, I really don't have time, and where did you get my number from anyway?"

I was caught off guard and in the middle of something, so my amygdala kicked in...'get rid of this person, there is zero value in this exchange.'

He wasn't selling to me as such, but he did require my time...which is an 'ask'.

These calling 'scripts' are so badly constructed I do sometimes wonder how the world still goes round.

In the heat of the exchange I thought for a minute and took a step back.

I then gave him some feedback...

"Look you have genuinely caught me off guard, but if you had said something along the lines of...

'Hi Scott,

Listen, this is an unsolicited call, and probably not top of your list, but would it be such a big ask to run through a few questions so I tick some boxes on my research form? If not no worries...but it would be appreciated.

And before you ask, I have no idea where my company got your number from - it's a list I'm working through.

But probably not so surprising given your details can be scraped from multiple online sources.'

If spoken using the correct tone (assertive, nurturing, asking, but not begging) this would likely have disarmed my reptilian brain, bringing my barriers down, due to the fact...

- It would've made it more human & relatable and less robotic

- It's honest & therefore disarming

- It's a refreshingly different approach to what we're used to so it would have served as a bit of a pattern interrupt

- It has a reverse negative to help inspire action

- It reduces resistance by pre-emting typical questions

- And it appeals to the rescuer in all of us to help a bit

He was slightly taken aback but seemed to appreciate the feedback.

I then answered his questions and off he went.

I do wonder if he's now using this new intro...