[thelist] [OT] Telephone Spam

Michael Buffington mike at price.com
Wed Jan 17 19:59:31 CST 2001


I just had an interesting conversation from a sales guy, thought it might
generate a chuckle out of the list:

M = myself
S = salesguy

"Ring"
M: "Hello"
S: "Hello, Michael Buffington?"
M: "That's me"
S: "Hello Michael, this is [so and so] from [acme] I understand you are the
sole decision maker for content issues regarding Price.com"

Well, let's pause right there for a second and let me share a little
background.  My name and cell number are on or were at one time on
Internic's whois record for Price.com. Needless to say I get calls like this
all the time. I actually don't mind it so much, it helps me guage what kind
of sales tactics people are using.  This guy's failed.

M: "Wow, who told you that?"
S: "Well, [nervously]hehe, a little bird"
M: "Oh really? My wife used to have a cockatiel that could whistle Dixie.
Seriously, who told you I was the sole decision maker as it relates to
content"
S: "I have a bunch of little birds hanging around."
M: "Look, I know you don't have a flock of little birds hanging around. I'm
really curious who fed you that, why won't you tell me?"
S: "Uh, well, [acme] is owned by [bigger acme] and we provide [blah blah
blah, avoid the question, go into pitch, blah blah]"
M: "So you got my name and number from the Internic right?" [he hadn't said
anything to indicate that, it was my "wild" guess]
S: "Yeah, you're right."
M: "So the whole little bird thing was a joke I take it? Do think that I
don't value honesty in business. You just lied to me. Do you think I trust
you when you tell me your product will make my business more money?"
S: "Uh.."
M: "Goodbye sir.[click]"

And now that I read over this I feel a bit guilty, because I realize that
was just some normal guy with a normal life who really didn't need my lip
and is just trying to put food on the table at the end of the day.  But hey,
maybe he learned something.  Honesty in business should be #1.


And because I owe - a tip!

<tip type="Server Admin: Remotely Anywhere" author="Michael Buffington">
Remotely Anywhere is an excellent low cal alternative to PCAnywhere and the
like.  It uses very little memory, is easy to install, is updated frequently
with free patches, does some really cool stuff, and best of all, it's cheap!

Check it out:
http://www.remotelyanywhere.com/
</tip>

Michael Buffington
mike at price.com
(714) 556-3890 x222
http://www.price.com 




More information about the thelist mailing list