Phone conversation openers most likely to make me hang up immediately
"This is not a telemarketing call and I'm not trying to sell you something."
This opening line GUARANTEES that either yes, it is a telemarketing/sales call, or it's going to be something which falls into the same category of INTERRUPTING ME, WASTING MY GODDAMN TIME AND TYING UP MY PHONE LINE.
It's the verbal equivalent of "This is not spam" or "This is perfectly legal". If it's going to be so close to one of the aforementioned categories as to need a disclaimer in order for most people to make the distinction, it's still not going to be something I particularly want to be exposed to.
This opening line GUARANTEES that either yes, it is a telemarketing/sales call, or it's going to be something which falls into the same category of INTERRUPTING ME, WASTING MY GODDAMN TIME AND TYING UP MY PHONE LINE.
It's the verbal equivalent of "This is not spam" or "This is perfectly legal". If it's going to be so close to one of the aforementioned categories as to need a disclaimer in order for most people to make the distinction, it's still not going to be something I particularly want to be exposed to.