Unbelievable . . . but True

  by Ann Barr

They are amazingly successful.

Who?

The scam artists—fraudulent telemarketers—who are bilking consumers out of billions of dollars every year. Some of these consumers are probably your customers.

They exist in nearly every industry. In the office equipment supplies industry, they are known as toner pirates—unscrupulous telemarketers who prey on businesses everywhere and misrepresent themselves as being from the "local warehouse" or "local supplier."

They may even say they are calling from Canon or Sharp or Panasonic or any other major manufacturer. These fraudulent telemarketers will usually say they are calling about an upcoming price increase and offer to sell supplies (usually copier toner) at a "special" price—which in reality is usually two to four times the retail price.

Here is a sampling of scripts the “toner pirates” use when calling consumers:

• "Prices on products are being raised, but valued customers can get a couple of cartons at the old price."

• "A customer changed copiers and can’t use the supplies."

• "There’s a special close-out of soon-to-be-discontinued items."

• "We’re handling supplies distribution for your dealer (manufacturer) and we’re offering a free gift if you can confirm your order."

• "A delivery truck has been disabled nearby and toner has to be sold at our cost."

Toner Pirates at Work

During the years I managed a telephone sales supply department, we knew of the existence of toner pirates because we sold office equipment supplies.

The day it really hit home, though, was when I received a telephone call from a customer expressing concern about "what happened to Louise." (Louise was a long-time, very successful telephone sales rep in our supplies department.)

The customer said: "Yesterday I received a call from Joe, who said he worked in your warehouse. He said he was sending us our regular supply of copier toner."(There was no one named Joe in our warehouse.)

The customer went on to say: "I told him that Louise was our sales rep and we always purchased our toner from her. Then he explained what happened to Louise."

At that point I looked at Louise—sitting about 20 feet from my office—and she looked okay to me!

The customer continued: "Joe told me that Louise had been caught embezzling from your company and is in prison now. I was so surprised to hear that."

After recovering from the shock of hearing this, I assured the customer that the story about Louise was not true and that Louise was in the office and working as usual.

Our customer then realized that she had been taken in by a toner pirate.

Copier Toner Price Doubles

Not long ago I received a call from a telephone sales rep in Dallas, Texas, who told me that her sales have increased in an unexpected way. She said that a customer had called to complain about the fact that the price of copier toner had suddenly doubled.

The way Amy (the sales rep) handled this—and similar situations—has made a surprising difference in her sales.

It took nearly five minutes of questioning for Amy to realize that her customer had been taken in by a fraudulent telemarketer. It seems that someone called this customer claiming to be calling "from the warehouse" about her order for copier toner.

The customer was talked into believing that the call came from her regular supplier and she was charged twice the retail price for her copier toner.

While Amy knew about toner pirates, she didn't really believe customers actually bought from them.

Wrong!

Spreading the Word

Her customer's experience caused Amy to realize that she needed to alert other customers about this illegal practice. 

She made hundreds of copies of her “Toner Pirate Warning” and sent them out, along with a letter of explanation, to everyone on her database. Amy told me she sent out 30 each day and followed up a week later with a telephone call to each account.

Good Customer Service Equals Sales

What Amy discovered, when calling to follow-up with customers, surprised her. She realized – in addition to providing good customer service—that she had found a new marketing tool.

She said: "I learned that many of my customers had been called by toner pirates and were eager to share their experiences. My customers told me they appreciated learning more about how these telemarketers operate, and thanked me for sending them the information—which they copied and distributed to other employees.

“Nearly half of these customers placed an order with me during my customer service calls!"

Are your customers being victimized?

Your customers will thank you when you provide important and helpful information about how they can avoid being victimized by toner pirates. You can get a free sample letter to send to your customers at www.profitbyphone.com/PirateLetter.htm . If you are unable to access the link, send an email to annbarr3@cox.net and I will email the link to you.

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Ann Barr is a consultant and sales trainer who has

written eight books on sales and marketing
available on her web site www.sellingsupplies.com