Companies: Don't Rudely Put The Phone Down On Potential Customers.

I get a lot of calls from companies selling products to homeowners, though I live in a council house in the U.K.

Sure, myself and my partner are looking to buy in the future because we don't want to be here anymore, but we are not there yet!

I got a call today from a company selling products to homeowners.

Homeowner-People who own their own home.

I politely stopped him and explained that I lived in a council house.

I told him that I didn't want to waste his time and that I lived in a council house.

He didn't even say thank you or goodbye, he simply put the phone down on me.

I don't answer many of these calls because most of the time they end up being pushy companies who try to sell products and then get funny with me when I say no.

However, I will occasionally pick up the phone during the day because I sometimes get calls from family or professionals involved in my husband's care, and the caller identification doesn't always show.

I am a polite person who would rather be honest and polite with you, rather than have you waste your time when you could be dealing with a customer who might be able to value your services more than me.

It would be nice to have that same respect returned to me from you as a company.

I did some work experience when I was at school in the early 90s with Yorkshire Water

I worked in administration, and I had to answer phone calls, take mail to others, and help with many tasks.

That work experience taught me something about business, despite not being able to get a job due to mental health problems and trauma once I left school.

The lesson learned was that if you want a customer to respect you and use your services, you need to be polite.

Another lesson I was taught was that if you call someone who doesn't want your services, then politely thank them and say goodbye before ending a call with them.

I now write e-books for a living, and I am working on a number of hardbacks.

• I value my readers, even if they don't always buy my books and choose to read for free.
• I am polite with all my fellow readers, writers, and fans, even when they say something negative about my work.
• If I wasn't polite, I'd lose readers in a flash!

It works the same with any business.

I understand that sometimes companies can get customers who are abusive for no reason, and I can really empathize with that.

No company should have to put up with abuse. However, if a potential customer is nice to you, then it also pays to be nice back.

If it had been myself, I would have ended the call with:

I apologize for bothering you. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I hope you have a good day.

There is no need to be abrupt or aggressive when the person whom you are talking to, is being polite to you on the other end of the line.

An aggressive and rude telephone manner, even if you have called a potential customer who might not know you, is not the way to encourage sales. People will be put off from doing business if you are rude on the phone. Companies don't like putting up with abuse and aggressive or rude behavior, then why should we have to put up with it?

It pays to be polite when your customer or potential customer is being polite to you.