Business by Deception

Many calls come to my cell phone indicating various originating cities, many local to this location. Getting a little fed up with this practice prompts me to act. It is a game. Instead of ignoring the call as spam, I answer and establish a somewhat warm rapport giving my name, asking their name, the company they represent and the city they are calling from (a written list is starting). Before hanging up I inform them of the deceptive practice they are engaged in.

Okay, I get it, in fact our company spent numerous years in the lead generation business with phone teams booking appointments and generating leads for our clients.

These unfortunate souls making the deceptive calls are simply doing their job and should not be abused. It is also possible they are calling from some human trafficking hellhole.

Here are the questions worth pondering:

·      Is my undercover practice too cruel to the boiler room caller?

·      Why would a legitimate company use these methods attempting to gain new customers?

·      Why would any clear-thinking individual consider engaging in business with such an organization?

·      Why is it even legal? Isn’t this fraud?

Currently our cell phone numbers are portable, allowing us to make calls from anywhere with our numbers showing on the callee’s phone. VOIP connections allow the same. Simply plug the desk VOIP phone into an internet connection and your base number appears on the call receiver. Calls made from these are worthy, it is not deception.

The main point here is that if any company must use deceptive means to make sales, perhaps they should follow the advice of the Jedi (using a Jedi mind trick): “Go home and think about your life”

One final question to the deceptive caller: “Can you give me your email address for a free copy of our blog post?”