PHONE TAG

PHONE TAG
Let me rant for a moment about people I don’t want to talk on the phone with: (gotta love caller I.D. and voice mail)

Actually there are a lot of people I don’t want to talk on the phone with, however there are that top 10% of callers that really make my blood pressure boil. If I had to categorize them in no particular order I would have to list: Stock brokers, fund raisers, bill collectors, charity organizations, appointment reminders from my dentist, people trying to sell me something at dinner time…followed by recorded sales pitches, serial wrong number freaks, managers who have their secretary get me on the line so I can wait for them to pick up, my 3 ex wives, and other people that won’t take no for an answer or who only want 10 minutes of my time to take some kind of poll.

A lot of these people are just naturally aggravating; however some go to great lengths and even significant training to be annoying. As a business owner I get deluged with junk calls all day long, despite the fact that I have trained my staff to carefully screen all of my calls.

My people will routinely ask for a name, company, purpose of the call, 3 forms of I.D., a blood and urine sample, and a DNA test. Yet, even with these precautions in place, I still find myself playing verbal ping pong with a few dozen phone whores a day.

Probably the best of these varmints is the stock broker. They have made a science out of phone harassment. These crafty pros will outwit and intimidate your call screeners by pretending that they are an old friend, lawyer, important customer, relative, doctor with important news, etc… “tell the big guy its Joe..and I’m about to get on a plane for Florida”. These guys are tough as nails, calling from their boiler rooms in New York. They are required to make hundreds of calls today and operate on the “talk until you get hung up on principle”. These “masters of rejection” will wade thru dozens of no’s in the hope of getting to one “yes” (kind’a reminds me of myself the month before Prom night) There is simply no polite way to decline their sales pitch.

There are however, a few opening sentences that will elicit an immediate hang up from me…if they start with:

“I’m not trying to sell you anything today”…..click/dial tone

“If what I’m saying doesn’t make sense you can hang up on me after one minute…” slam/dial tone

“This could be the most important phone call in your life”…click

For the most part I simply hang up after the first sentence or two, but in a strange kind of way, you almost have to admire some of the creative ways these phone freaks use to get your attention. If I’m in a playful mood, I will sometimes go along with them for a few minutes, and try to “one up them”.

“ P.I.B…how’s it going.., Joe Shmoe here from “Dewy, Cheat’em and Howe” in New York…how are you doing. Hey, remember we spoke a few months ago and you told me to get back to you, if a great deal came across my desk. Well, I got an inside tip that…..
My turn….. “Joe, baby, why didn’t you just tell my call screener it was you
They would have put the call right thru. As a matter of fact I’m checking my calendar right now, and I made a note that we talked..let me just click on this to refresh my memory…Oh yes, here it is…J/S called January 15th….told him to put me on his do not call list and shove his stock tips up his…..Hello…hello…

I think this whole phone solicitation thing is getting out of hand, especially now that many of the phone solicitors have farmed out there call centers to other countries, like Pakistan to save money. (hey Dell does it)..

“AY yes, many thanks…hello, tell P.I.B, this is his uncle Raji from Jersey…I’m about to get on a plane for Islamabad. I mean Boston…I have a hot tip for a curry stock that is about to go global… click….

Anyway, I guess the whole junk phone call, spam e-mail thing is just part of life in the good old U.S.A. Hey..every body’s got to make a living..right ?

By the way, if you disagree or have a comment give me a call…on second thought ..don’t….My call screener will not let you thru.

P.I.B

MADE IN AMERICA

MADE IN AMERICA
Use it or lose it. I hate to say it but America’s industrial base is just not what it used to be. One of the key strengths and economic drivers for the United States was our industrial base. America led the world in manufacturing cars, steel, ships, appliances and construction equipment.
Over the years we allowed quality to slip and prices to rise. We invited anxious overseas competitors to get a foot hold on our own shores. They started modestly but offered quality, innovation, and a huge price advantage. Also, while other countries set up significant roadblocks to imports, the American buyer welcomed the opportunity to buy more, for less.
One by one we lost our competitive lead in key industries. Foreign competitors that had made their entry with economy, no frill products, began to fill out the line offerings with more and better offerings. The automotive industry was particularly hard hit, as foreign entries provided not only a cost advantage, but were ahead of the curve on fuel economy. American manufacturers were still building big expensive fuel guzzlers, while the Japanese were building smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles.
As the quality and price differential widened, Americans overwhelmingly choose the imports over the domestic brands. Brands like Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Sony, Airbus, Hitachi, Komatsu, and others became the standard that we now have to compete with.
Today, our young people out of college, all want high tech, white collar jobs, but we must be careful not to abandon or industrial base. For the foreseeable future we will still need our cars, boats, planes, and military hardware. Aside from the obvious economic trade deficient, we should not allow ourselves to become as dependent on foreign products as we have on foreign energy sources.
But I guess that’s just how one poor Italian boy sees it. Let’s make “Made In America, mean something again”.

Until Latter
P.I.B

WORK ETHIC

WORK ETHIC
Alright, let me know if it’s just me, or have we seen an erosion of the overall level of work ethic in this country. Let me preface this by saying that this comment certainly doesn’t apply to everyone, but I feel it is apropos to a growing segment of the work force.
There seems to be an apathy, or sense of entitlement that has become increasingly more apparent in our workforce. The by-product of this trend can be seen in the quality of workmanship in our homes and cars, the lack of urgency exhibited by many customer service reps, and the decreasing productivity of many of our factories.
To be honest, many employers foster, if not condone, this sub-par level of work and performance. This creates a vicious cycle of decreased expectation and the ensuing drop in performance. I’ve found that most people in the workplace will live up to, or down to, the expectations you have for them. So employers must decide if they want to lower the bar, so that everyone can step over it, or raise the bar and only hire the climbers.
America was not made great by clock watchers, paper pushers, short timers, or temp help, but by individuals who worked hard, created value, and took risks. Don’t you hate it when you walk into a business and they can’t serve you because they close in an hour and the staff is already in the shut down mode. Don’t you feel uncomfortable when you are dealing with someone that clearly doesn’t want to be at work, and you, the customer are an obvious interruption to whatever else they were previously doing. Do you love it, when you get caught in the phone zone of pre-recorded and never ending options..Press one if you want sales….. I find myself screaming..I just want to talk to a real person… How do you feel as an employer, when your staff can’t seem to show up on time every day for work. Do you allow it ?
When my grandfather came to this country, like some many other immigrants, he came here for the opportunity to work and learn. He was willing to take any job and prove his worth, with the hope of improving his family’s lot in life. He didn’t speak the language, he didn’t have a support system, and he didn’t feel that this country owed him a living. Like so many before and after him, he only wanted a chance, an opportunity, a foothold. From there he was willing to toil and chisel out a piece of the American dream for himself, his family, and his descendents.
When I hire a new employees today , I still look for those individuals that want to work, want to excel, and bring a level of excitement into our workforce. They must exhibit that hunger, that eye of the tiger, and a willingness to get the job done.
If you think I sound old fashioned, and not in tune with the times..well maybe….but then again this column is about my feelings and values, so tough luck.
Until Latter
PIB