Part of my job is screening calls for the owner. I'm hoping these guys have given up, but...
The first call from them today was picked up by Eugene, my co-worker, they asked for my boss Keith by name so he kicked the call up to me...
Me: Keith Smith's office.
Caller: I need to speak to Mr. Smith.
Me: May I ask who's calling?
Caller: David Bank of IPA.
Me: And what is the reason for you call?
Caller: I'm from Richard Cook's office in Springfield. He's going to be in your area and would like to see Keith.
Me: I'm sorry, but Mr. Smith isn't in right now. I'll let him know you called.
Caller: Do you know when he will be in?
Me: I'm afraid I don't. Can you give me a number where you or Mr. Cook can be reached?
Caller: That's OK. I'll just try again later. When is he in, again?
Me: I'm afraid I don't know his schedule. Would you prefer to leave a voice mail for him?
Caller: That's OK. Rich will be in the neighborhood on Monday and just wants to stop by.
Me: I'll let him know you called.
And we said our good byes.
The reason I was so polite is that we do get lots of calls from people we don't know who have a legitimate reason to talk to Keith. Keith is an expert in a certain area and he enjoys helping people who have the same interest. Most of these folks have enough sense to give me their names and their reason for calling, but some don't. So even though I suspected a cold sales call, it was important to stay nice.
So anyway, Keith comes in and I ask if he is familiar with either Richard, David or IPA. He says he isn't. Pretty much what I suspected. If they try again, they're going nowhere unless they tell me what they want and it is something Keith is interested in talking about.
I tell him that Richard is planning to stop by on Monday. Keith tells me he won't be in on Monday.
Later Eugene went to lunch so I was covering phones when I get this call:
Me:...How may I help you?
Caller: Hi. Is Keith in?
Me: May I ask who's calling?
Caller: This is Joe. I'm calling from Richard Cook's office.
Me: May I ask the reason for your call?
Caller:...
Me:...
Caller...
Me:...
Caller:...
[Note: I can hear background noise during that entire round of silence.]
Me: I'm sorry. We seem to have lost the connection. Good-bye. [click]
So I told Keith about it:
Me: You know that guy who called earlier and sort of pretended to know you?
Keith: Yeah.
Me: Another guy from that office just called and tried it again. When I asked why he was calling he just sat there and didn't say anything. Maybe he thought it would trick me into putting him through to you.
Keith: And you didn't fall for it?
Me: It will be amusing if this Richard character shows up on Monday and tries to pretend he has an appointment with you. And you aren't even going to be here, so...
Keith: Dips?
Me: Yeah?
Keith: I'm not going to be here because we're closed for Patriots' Day. Nobody's going to be here.
Me: Oh, I forgot. That's even better.
The first call from them today was picked up by Eugene, my co-worker, they asked for my boss Keith by name so he kicked the call up to me...
Me: Keith Smith's office.
Caller: I need to speak to Mr. Smith.
Me: May I ask who's calling?
Caller: David Bank of IPA.
Me: And what is the reason for you call?
Caller: I'm from Richard Cook's office in Springfield. He's going to be in your area and would like to see Keith.
Me: I'm sorry, but Mr. Smith isn't in right now. I'll let him know you called.
Caller: Do you know when he will be in?
Me: I'm afraid I don't. Can you give me a number where you or Mr. Cook can be reached?
Caller: That's OK. I'll just try again later. When is he in, again?
Me: I'm afraid I don't know his schedule. Would you prefer to leave a voice mail for him?
Caller: That's OK. Rich will be in the neighborhood on Monday and just wants to stop by.
Me: I'll let him know you called.
And we said our good byes.
The reason I was so polite is that we do get lots of calls from people we don't know who have a legitimate reason to talk to Keith. Keith is an expert in a certain area and he enjoys helping people who have the same interest. Most of these folks have enough sense to give me their names and their reason for calling, but some don't. So even though I suspected a cold sales call, it was important to stay nice.
So anyway, Keith comes in and I ask if he is familiar with either Richard, David or IPA. He says he isn't. Pretty much what I suspected. If they try again, they're going nowhere unless they tell me what they want and it is something Keith is interested in talking about.
I tell him that Richard is planning to stop by on Monday. Keith tells me he won't be in on Monday.
Later Eugene went to lunch so I was covering phones when I get this call:
Me:...How may I help you?
Caller: Hi. Is Keith in?
Me: May I ask who's calling?
Caller: This is Joe. I'm calling from Richard Cook's office.
Me: May I ask the reason for your call?
Caller:...
Me:...
Caller...
Me:...
Caller:...
[Note: I can hear background noise during that entire round of silence.]
Me: I'm sorry. We seem to have lost the connection. Good-bye. [click]
So I told Keith about it:
Me: You know that guy who called earlier and sort of pretended to know you?
Keith: Yeah.
Me: Another guy from that office just called and tried it again. When I asked why he was calling he just sat there and didn't say anything. Maybe he thought it would trick me into putting him through to you.
Keith: And you didn't fall for it?
Me: It will be amusing if this Richard character shows up on Monday and tries to pretend he has an appointment with you. And you aren't even going to be here, so...
Keith: Dips?
Me: Yeah?
Keith: I'm not going to be here because we're closed for Patriots' Day. Nobody's going to be here.
Me: Oh, I forgot. That's even better.
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