I’m sure we have all experienced those annoying sales calls from telemarketers at some point or another. And everyone has their own way of dealing with them. Some choose to simply hang up on them, others choose to pretend they can’t hear or that they are simply not the person they are looking for. But a vast majority of people get mad and aren’t afraid to show it either.

It’s understandable to get frustrated with these type of phone calls because they happen to come at the times when you finally have a chance to relax, and these sales representatives can be very persistent at times. But let’s consider what’s going on on the other end of the phone line.

I speak from experience that making a telemarketing phone call is probably just as frustrating as receiving one. Many people don’t realize this but most of the people on the other end of that phone line are just like you- people working to pay their bills. And making these types of phone calls evokes anxiety in some telemarketers because always anticipate the negative reaction from the other end.

When I was a telemarketer, I made calls through an operating system. This meant that I had no control over who I was calling, and had no idea if the person I was calling was on a “Do Not Call” list nor did I know what time it was in the location of the place I was calling. And if the caller doesn't answer, we mark this lead as "no answer" and the system programs it so you get called again a few days later.

Many times people told me that they were on a do not call list and I questioned whether the company that I worked for was breaking the law but all of us telemarketers at this job were left in the dark to that information. We had a script to follow and our knowledge for the job was essentially limited to that script.

Very rarely did people receive my call in a welcoming manner. And I wasn’t even trying to sell anything where I worked. I was merely conducting investment surveys. If someone didn’t want to speak with me, I politely thanked them for their time and ended the call. The truth is a good telemarketer only wants to talk to people who want to be spoken to.

As a telemarketer, I was threatened to be arrested, yelled at and hung up on. To say the least, I didn’t last longer than two months through all the negativity. But this experience put things into perspective for me. I will never be rude to a telemarketer again because it’s just their job. They don’t mean to be a nuisance, they’re just trying to make money just like the rest of us.

Next time you get a sales call, think about how you would feel in their place before you threaten their life or make them feel worthless. The most efficient way to get a telemarketer to stop calling you is just this simple sentence: "Please put me on your do not call list." It’s easy enough to just politely decline like this and go on your way. Just remember, the computer chose your number, not the caller.