The Direct Approach

If I seem to focus a great deal on the telephone calls, it’s because I’m good at it, and getting better each day, but it’s the one thing I thought I was rotten at!

I am skipping much of the folderol and cutting straight to the chase:

“Good Morning Beverly; my name is Chris Greaves. We haven’t spoken before, but I’m calling to ask you out to lunch”.

Peals of laughter from the other end, then “Who are you?”, “What do you do?”, “Why me?”. As predictable as a wound-up clock.

These are easy questions to answer: “I am Chris Greaves, an independent consultant”; “ I phone people up and take them to lunch”; “Because your name was on yesterday’s press release.”.

“Why don’t you want to speak to the President, CEO or CFO?”; “because everyone else is taking them to lunch, but I want to go straight to the person who runs things”.

More laughter, and I just KNOW that we will be setting a lunch date.

“Good morning Doctor Walker; my name is Chris Greaves. We haven’t spoken before, but I’m calling to ask you out to lunch”.

No laughter this time, but the same questions.

“After reading the press release I noticed your address and it seems to me that you are right across from the Tim Horton’s on the West mall where I have coffee four times a week:”.

He is busy for a month, call him November 22nd.

I will. In the meantime I’ll send him a hand-written card, and by November 22nd he will remember my name, but not who I am, and he’ll agree to the lunch. I just know that he will.

Talk to Me !