Last updated: 23/07/2020 | Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
How to handle business energy sales calls
The importance of comparing business energy deals has become common knowledge and shouldn’t be underestimated. However, it’s also important that you and your business do not become harassed by energy salespeople calling you all the time with aggressive sales methods.
This guide will break down some of the most common tactics employed by salespeople as well as how to avoid feeling pressured into a contract and how to stop receiving such calls.
In This Guide:
- Who is making these calls?
- The basic dos and don’ts of receiving a sales call
- How can I stop receiving energy sales calls?
Who is making these calls?
You might assume that these energy sales calls originate from the energy suppliers themselves. While this is certainly true some of the time, many of the calls are from brokers who may be pretending to be a competing supplier or even pretend to be your current supplier trying to renew your contract.
Due to the deceptive way most brokers present themselves, they may try to obtain private company information from you or even edit a recorded phone call with you so they can claim you made a verbally binding agreement with them. These tactics have potentially long term and very damaging consequences to your business.
The following dos and don’ts guide will help you identify the caller and avoid dealing with brokers.
The basic dos and don’ts of receiving a sales call
DO:
- Ask the caller to identify themselves
Upon receiving an energy sales call, the first thing you should do is ask the salesperson to identify where they are calling from. Even the most basic information should be noted down in case you need to refer to it in the future. That means you should learn the caller’s name, who they work for, and their contact details.
- Have your information on hand
During the phone call, you will want to have at least your energy bill in front of you. This will allow you to reference your tariff name and any potential increase or decrease in cost. If you are interested in comparing business energy deals, then you can provide the salesperson with this information and you may end up with a deal that is good enough to switch for.
- Shop around the market
Not all sales calls are a bad thing. In fact, they can help you get a cheap business energy deal that you might not have found otherwise. However, because most salespeople only work for one supplier at a time, it’s best to either use our online energy comparison tool or contact multiple suppliers for different quotes. This way you can find the best energy deals on the market.
DON’T:
- Agree to a contract over the phone
If a salesperson offers you a surprisingly good deal over the phone, it can be tempting to accept it there and then. This usually isn’t the best idea because you might not be aware of any hidden costs or fees that you would see if you had the contract in front of you.
By taking down the caller’s contact details, you can take further measures to learn the entirety of the contract before agreeing to it. A verbal contract made over the phone is considered the same as physically signing a contract.
- Be scared of asking questions
You should take this opportunity to learn as much about the offer as possible. That means asking about the contract length, your right to cancel, and about any termination fees which can be shockingly high.
How can I stop receiving energy sales calls?
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to put a complete end to cold calling for energy salespeople, but there are a few things you can do to alleviate the nuisance.
The easiest step is to register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which is free to sign up to. The TPS will put your business name on a ‘do not call’ list, essentially banning UK companies from cold calling you.
If your business continues to be bothered by sales calls, it may be time to report the company that is calling you to the TPS or Ofcom, both of which will try to take action.
