cold-call
verb [with object]
Make an unsolicited visit or telephone call to (someone), in an attempt to sell goods or services: he has been cold-called a dozen times in the past two months there are severe new regulations against cold-calling...
- The elderly, their families and neighbours have been warned to close the door or hang up the phone on a firm cold-calling customers in South Lakeland and trying to sell fire alarms.
- Staff from the Stockholm Environment Centre cold-called families picked from the electoral register, then visited those who said they might be interested.
- Police believe the company is targeting the elderly and vulnerable by offering to do a safety check after cold-calling customers.
noun
(cold call) An unsolicited visit or telephone call made by someone trying to sell goods or services: the salesmen spend most of their time making cold calls on perfect strangers...
- In addition, I've had five new comment spams since yesterday evening, countless email spams, a bunch of junk mail and a couple of telephone cold calls.
- I was in no mood for cold calls to unfriendly strangers who would resent my intrusion into their lives.
- At other times, making cold calls is certainly not beneath me.
Derivatives
cold-caller
- We have suddenly been targeted not by cold-callers - to whom we are always courteous on the grounds that it's a hell of a job - but robot cold-callers, strange, cheery American voices who start with ‘Congradulations!
- I feel sorry for cold-callers - I don't know why, since their job is the same as that of the door-to-door salesman, with the advantage that they don't get bitten by the dog.
- If you see cold-callers operating in your street, contact Hounslow Council's Trading Standards on 020 8583 5555.