The disconnect and not knowing who called

We're going to talk about a couple things today. They're pretty simple concepts to grasp, and I have faith in you. I know you'll understand!

Let's start with the dreaded disconnect. Why do I dread it so? Let's start this from the beginning of the call so you'll understand. We'll use John as an example again. John calls Nancy and dials the correct number this time. Nancy answers the phone, so she and John begin their conversation. It appears that John has reached Nancy on her cell phone while she's driving. Because she's driving, she made the wise decision of not turning her eyes away from the road to search in her purse for a pen and paper to write John's name down. She tells herself she'll remember his name and will write it down later when it's safe to do so. That's quite understandable. Unfortunately for us all, Nancy suddenly hits a cell dead zone, and her call is disconnected. And wouldn't you know it, she forgot John's name already! She is faced with two options: She can wait for John to her back. Or she can dial the number her cell phone stored for him and hope that it's his direct line. She decides on option number 2. This is officially a problem. Why? Well you see, that number was not John's direct line. It was the main number for John's company, the company I answer the phone for. Nancy has reached me-the receptionist.

This leads us to the second part of our discussion today. Knowing who called. Nancy does not know who called because she did not write John's name down because she was driving. I do not know who called because I do not make phone calls FOR people. I just answer the phone calls MADE to people. It is a simple but ever so important distinction. Since I do not make calls for people, I do not know who Nancy was speaking with. Which means Nancy has wasted precious cell phone minutes explaining the situation to me in the vain hope that knowing what happened will change the simple fact that I can't put her call through to John because neither of us knows she was talking to John.

This scenario is a wonderful example of why it is important to know who called you. Because if you don't know who called, I can't help. I want to help. Help me help you.