Why being pushy doesn't work for me

Last week I missed a phone call from a company and they left a message asking me to call them back. When I did, the guy on the other end of the phone said to me that they were following up a flyer that they'd sent via email.

I apologised and said I hadn't seen the flyer and could he tell me what it was about. He said that they did PC support and that for a monthly fee they could provide a comprehensive service for me looking after all of our computers. I thanked him for his time, but explained that someone else already offered this service for us and that we were not interested on this occasion.

At that point, he got pushy. He asked how much we were charged - I told him and he said they charged less than that. Again I said that we were very happy with our current supplier. He said did we put customer service over the amount we paid and I said absolutely.

To cut a long story short, this guy absolutely would not give up - to the point where I had to put the phone down on him just to get him to stop.

I'm very sorry but being pushy doesn't work for me. People can hassle all they like, but it actually means that I'm less likely to use that person as a result. I'm happy for people to ask once, but if the answer is no, I feel they should respect this.

I also have another situation going on with a personal trainer too. I used his services a couple of weeks ago but ended up injuring myself and have been advised to rest for two weeks. So, I have cancelled my sessions with him until I have recovered. But, he has been on the phone every day at the moment or emailing me - I know he's trying to be helpful, but there is a fine line between following up with someone and hassling them.

The golden rule seems to be three follow-ups with people. If you're hearing no all of the time, send them a gentle email 6 months down the line to see how they're getting on. That way, you'll get a good reputation as someone who follow-ups up, rather than a bad reputation of someone who hassles!