Here's to another 50!

I just logged on to write this week's blog and noticed that I have written 50 posts since I started this thing. I think that's quite a milestone and to celebrate my golden anniversary, everyone who reads this week's blog will be sent a 9 carat gold bracelet*

I had the most wonderful phone call toward the end of last week and I wanted to share it all with you. Now the most important point to make here is that I didn't do any business with this person at all. In fact - I never even got to speak to the person that I was calling, and nobody else within the organisation was in a position to help me otherwise!

Intrigued? Well that was the basic idea, so let me tell you how the call went. I asked if I could speak with someone whose name was on our database. Now this was (and I'm going to use the C word here) a cold call, but having a name is always so much more powerful than asking for "someone in marketing".

After a few seconds, the receptionist returned to me to advise me that the person I wanted had "declined my call". "Declined my call? What does that mean exactly?" I asked. "It means that she is not interested in speaking with you".

I thanked the lady for her time and moved on, but this call really struck a chord with me. I was not offended at her direct response, nor did I find it rude. I found it to be refreshingly honest, and what's more, I actually emailed the person to commend her company on their policy of total honesty.

Putting this happy little anecdote aside for the minute, I was forced to wonder just why it was that I found this honesty to be so refreshing, and then it occurred to me - we're all preconditioned to accept being lied to. Think about all of the little lies that you'll hear in any given day -

"He's away from his desk right now". "Sorry, she doesn't appear to be picking up her phone." "They're in a meeting," and so on. The point is that we just don't believe these statements any more. Every time you call someone they're always in a meeting. Really? With that many meetings going on, how do they have the time to do any actual work?

It's a shame isn't it? We know they're lying - THEY know they're lying and what's worse, they know that we know that they're lying. But why is the truth so terrifying? It might be a cliche but the truth really can set you free. A good salesperson rarely calls just once - he or she will keep calling until appropriate contact is made. If they're told that the person they need is not answering the phone, they're just going to call again. And again. And again....and the poor person answering going to have to continue lying to them.

How much more powerful to be told "Listen lovely sales person, I appreciate that you would like to speak with Mr Bigwig here, but he just doesn't want to take your call". Any true professional will make a note and move on. Sure, they are going to try again, but at least it won't be every 5 minutes.

So what's your policy on honesty? How do you tell a caller that their call is being rejected or declined? Or are your colleagues in the longest meeting ever known?

A straight and honest answer will yield its own rewards. Trust me - there's absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Have a good week.

*The offer of a gold bracelet is a complete lie, but it was done to prove a point - you didn't believe it any more than I did. As soon as you saw that little asterisk at the end, you figured that there would be some ridiculous set of Terms and Conditions and that there was clearly going to be a catch. Well, there's no catch. But there's also no bracelet.