'Some Reject Us Before We Even Talk, but Telemarketers Are Prepared for Rejection'

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How do you react when an unknown number pops up on your phone and it turns out to be a telemarketer trying to sell you something? Do you just hang up on them? Maybe offer them an unkind word?

Well, spare a thought for the person on the other end of the call. It could be Erik Estrada, who bypassed an obvious job with the highway patrol to sell policies for insurance company CIMB Sun Life. He is sorry if his call bothers you, but he truly believes that everyone should be protected by insurance, which is why this 24-year-old is still passionate about his job after three years.

Today, he tells My Jakarta about the life of a telemarketer, just how he got that name and what it feels like to be rejected most of the time.

So, Erik Estrada. … Do you want to explain the name?

[Laughs] I have no idea. I get that question a lot, but I’ll use this opportunity to end this once and for all. My parent were not fans of the US TV series ‘CHiPs.’ My dad most likely picked the name because he thought it sounded cool.

How many people do you call each day?

We receive a list of 50 names for us to call daily. From those 50, usually half of them don’t even answer our calls. On average, we sell product to four to six customers a day.

Do you have a quota or a minimum number of policies you have to sell, and does it affect how much you get paid?

No, we don’t have a quota, so the number of products that we sell doesn’t affect our monthly salary or benefits. But we do get incentives to sell a certain number of products.

How did you get the ‘operator voice’?

We were trained to be consistent with our intonation, to talk clearly and to speak slowly. We would role-play and they would evaluate us based on the enthusiasm in our voice, for example. And they also teach us how to deal with different scenarios and different kinds of customers.

What are the scenarios?

The best result is when the customer understands what we are selling and is eager to purchase a product. But sometimes people just say ‘yes’ to whatever we offer without really understanding what they are getting. In those cases our SOP [standard operating procedure] states that we can’t continue if the customer has not agreed clearly to the sale.

Some will try to politely reject our offer. So we try to convince them that we’re trying to help, instead of acting like a salesman. But we can only try to convince them three times. If after three attempts they don’t change their mind, we will end the call.

Some will be a bit hesitant and ask us to call back later, which we will definitely do. And some will reject us before we even start talking. In those situations we will end the call right away, but telemarketers are prepared for rejection.

Is it possible to become a telemarketer if you’re ‘cadel,’ unable to clearly say the letter ‘r’ in Indonesian?

[Smiles] Yes, in fact we have one here, and she sells our products just fine. There are a lot of ways you can compensate for something like that, such as speaking more slowly or wording a sentence differently.

As a telemarketer, do you react differently whenever you receive a call from other telemarketers?

This may sound weird, but I’ve never been contacted by any telemarketers. But since I understand their position, I would welcome their call if I wasn’t busy at the office.

For the last three years you’ve used the same dialogue every day. How boring is that?

Every job has its boring part. I’ve been a telemarketer for almost three years and I love the job because by selling insurance, we’re trying to help people prevent problems.

Is the job in any way tiring?

There are two shifts each day. The morning shift, which is from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., and the afternoon shift from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. We swap on a weekly basis. We’re allowed to work extra, but we can’t pick up more than three extra hours a day.

Personally, the exhausting part is the commute. Because I live in Bogor, I have take the train every day and it takes about an hour or so.

What’s the atmosphere like in the telemarketing section of the office?

We have desks lined up with dozens of people talking through their headphones all at once, so it can be quite noisy. Because of that many of us have our own methods for focusing on our conversations. Some will speak while standing and gesturing, trying to simulate a conversation. Some use head covers or scarfs to block the noise and some people even go under a table while speaking to get a sense of solitude [laughs]. I prefer to simply sit in the corner.

Erik Estrada was talking to Yasser Paragian.

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