Monday, November 22, 2010

Call Screening

The bane of our lives.

Until about 18 months ago I had a no-show number, dating back from 1990, the days of dial-up modems. I had a little scam whereby I would track down the phone number of telemarketers and load those numbers into a little DOS-batch job that would attack the list of numbers whenever I felt malicious, usually after a telemarketing call. It got to be so good/bad that I would issue 20 annoying calls for each one I received.

Times Change

Gone is the dial-up modem and with it the ability to attack-dial my enemies.

So about 18 months ago I removed the blocking.

Which meant my name began to appear on my prospect’s/clients phones instead of “Private Caller” or “Unknown Name”.

Four months ago I switched providers and the call-display arrived with the bundle.

I find myself looking at the name, and if I don’t recognize it (or the displayed number) I don’t pick up the phone.

I figure if it is someone I know, they’ll leave a message, and if it is someone trolling for a live voice they won’t.

Which Raises My Question to You

Do you know how you appear to the people you are trying to call?

Could your low-response to telephoning prospects be because you show up as “Private caller” or similar?

How Could You Find Out?

There’s no 100% guarantee, since every organization has a different carrier and/or a different system.

But you could try calling me and ask me how you appear on my phone.

It’s a start.

Talk to Me !

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