How not to sell a domain name...

figleaf007 · Jan 21, 2014

So I just received a phonecall....

'Can I speak to the sales director?' (in very abrupt tone)
Me - We don't have one
'Can I speak to the managing director?
Me - We don't really have one, I'm the ecommerce manager, can I help?
'We are selling xxxxxxxx.com are you interested?
Me - No thank you
'Well, you're not a very good ecommerce manager are you?'
Me - click, brrrrrrrrr

No, I didn't want your cr*ppy .com name which someone else is using as a dot co.uk anyhow and which is of no use to us. Just because you're sitting on a rubbish name you can't sell and your life hasn't turned out how you hoped, don't take it out on the rest of us.........

Sam · Jan 21, 2014

Sounds like they have good sales skills lol

websaway · Jan 21, 2014

I think "no thank you" is the worst possible response.

"Thank's, I am familiar with domain names and am afraid that domain would be no benefit to me" would have probably been a more advisable response. Particularly if you believe in karma.
If he persisted then you can excuse yourself because you are very busy and end the call perhaps wishing him good luck and a good day.

RobM · Jan 21, 2014

Yeah you should have been really really nice to him because he took the time to phone you up... waste your time... try and sell you a domain you didn't want... and then insult you because you didn't want it.

cm1975 · Jan 21, 2014

"No thank you" seems a perfectly reasonable response. Swearing and slamming the phone down would have been far worse.

websaway · Jan 21, 2014

cm1975 said:
"No thank you" seems a perfectly reasonable response. Swearing and slamming the phone down would have been far worse.

I agree but "no thank you" at outset invites a response, like it or not, but if you are polite and briefly explain why you don't want to pursue discussion it brings the call to a happier conclusion.

but anyway, for a business, dealing with calls is as important as making them and where possible the call should not end in bad feeling.

bulkcorn · Jan 21, 2014

'Well, you're not a very good ecommerce manager are you?'

I bet he made your day! :lol: :lol: :lol:

baldidiot · Jan 21, 2014

websaway said:
I think "no thank you" is the worst possible response.

"Thank's, I am familiar with domain names and am afraid that domain would be no benefit to me" would have probably been a more advisable response. Particularly if you believe in karma.
If he persisted then you can excuse yourself because you are very busy and end the call perhaps wishing him good luck and a good day.

I don't see the need for the OP to justify why they didn't want the domain... I would have also gone with a polite 'no thank you'.

diablo · Jan 21, 2014

Saying no thank you was a mistake.

Next time go straight to click, brrrrrrrrr.

bonusmedia · Jan 21, 2014

"Well you're not a very good salesperson, are you?"

Sounds like the guy was failing and frustrated - but that's not your problem.

On the flipside I called a company about 6 months ago to try and buy a domain they weren't using. The guy was really arrogant - he told me he didn't like having his time wasted by 'chancers' because the domain was worth 'thousands of pounds'. I might actually have offered low £xxxx if he hadn't been so rude.

Shouldn't let emotion get in the way of business really, but there is no shortage of decent people to deal with.

figleaf007 · Jan 21, 2014

His manner was so wrong from the start, because he wasn't talking to the CEO he was assuming he wasn't talking to the person who makes the online decisions for the company, which I do, I just don't have a CEO title to go with it!

Websaway - I think his response was coming no matter what I said, except if I begged him for his rubbish domain name...

sdsinc · Jan 21, 2014

I knew a lot of domainers are desperate but we are hitting a new level here.

RobM · Jan 21, 2014

websaway said:
I agree but "no thank you" at outset invites a response, like it or not, but if you are polite and briefly explain why you don't want to pursue discussion it brings the call to a happier conclusion.

but anyway, for a business, dealing with calls is as important as making them and where possible the call should not end in bad feeling.

I have never explained to a grocer why I *don't* want to buy a product and that is when I even walk into *their* shop.
By the same token if someone calls me, (unsolicited which is illegal in a lot of countries), I certainly wouldn't go the extra unnecessary mile.
Why would you waste your own life making someone else feel better? I'm sorry but 'I believe in Karma' only translates to me as 'I let people walk all over me and I'm powerless to stop them'.

websaway · Jan 22, 2014

RobM said:
I have never explained to a grocer why I *don't* want to buy a product and that is when I even walk into *their* shop.
By the same token if someone calls me, (unsolicited which is illegal in a lot of countries), I certainly wouldn't go the extra unnecessary mile.
Why would you waste your own life making someone else feel better? I'm sorry but 'I believe in Karma' only translates to me as 'I let people walk all over me and I'm powerless to stop them'.

Sorry Rob if I've misunderstood, I thought it was a business to business call.
Which do not have the same restrictions as domestic cold calling.

I do agree with you however that it is a matter of personal preference how you treat other people. Unless of course you are an employee and then you are controlled by company policy, most of which insist on a certain standard of behaviour.