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Patience
February 12, 2008

I don’t understand people. As a sales person, I am in the persistence business. I get that. It is simply expected that no one calls back. I get that, too. What I don’t get is how people can receive multiple messages and not respond. Maybe it is just me...

Okay, here’s my deal: Call me once and leave a message. If I don’t know you and feel you are trying to sell me something, I ain’t calling back! Call me a second time and there is a 99.99% likelihood that I will be returning your message. That’s just the way I was brought up, I suppose. Very rarely does a solicitor have to call a third time (but then again, very rarely does a solicitor actually make that many attempts!).

Lately I have been making a lot of phone calls. Business is good and I want to keep it that way. However I have noticed a spectacular amount of unreturned phone calls and I am getting increasingly frustrated. Nothing good comes from this emotion. I tend to write people off as idiots.

So, after another day of unreturned phone calls, I am here to tell all of you who are ignoring me the following:

YOU ARE NOT MY CUSTOMER!

I do business with courteous people who return phone calls in a timely manner. They appreciate the work I do for them and believe that I am a valuable part of their success. In return, I work hard for them. It’s a pretty fair deal for the both of us.

It just seems to me that every time I pursue someone and get stiff-armed by Voice Mail, I regret the work I do get. Currently I have calls in with lots of printers and a few vendors. Is business THAT good that they don’t need more?

Okay, there is another option here: Maybe I am not saying anything of value. Maybe the messages I leave are deleted because they are boring. Maybe I should work more on my delivery. Maybe instead of simply being persistent I ought to concentrate on delivering more substance. Maybe people simply find me annoying. Maybe I should be friendlier. Maybe I am wrong and they are right.

Naaaaaahhhhhhh!

Posted by Bill Farquharson on February 12, 2008 | Comments (1)