Who’s Your Best Friend?

Throughout a typical day, I get an inordinate amount of solicitations.  I’m sure you do too.  I really feel for the people on the other end of the phone. Most are like you and me trying to make a living.  Unfortunately, they go about it the wrong way.

Most of these folks call me up and pretend that they know me.

“Your friend Joe is on line 2,” Ellen said.

“What friend Joe?” I said as I picked up the receiver.

And then, it’s always the same.  Joe or Mary or Margaret or Jennifer or Tony all sound the same.  They all pretend that they are my best friend and haven’t talked with me in 100 years!

“How are you,” they say.  “How’s everything going?”

And I’m thinking, why am I going to tell a complete stranger???

Today, took the case.  A woman from Lightpath called me up to find out if we would switch over to Lightpath from our current service.

“And by the way,” she said, “who are your clients?”

“What?” I said.

“You know I love to network people.  My current customers are…” and then she proceeds to rattle off the names of some of my competitors.  “I recommend PR people all the time,” she said.  And I’m thinking…WHAT?

Let’s look at a scenerio….

Betty owns a bakery shop on 7th Street in Garden City.  Terry, the woman from Lightpath, says to Betty, “Oh, you need to call Ralph Waldo PR, Peachtree Communications, Margaret Brown PR, Schwartz, Cohen and Benning PR and HJMT COMMUNICATIONS, LLC.”

This is ridiculous and absurd.  Did this woman, Terry, really think that I would switch over my service to her because she would get me business?

And the funny thing is, I believe we already are customers of Lightpath!