It took a while to find a telephone solicitor who would grant us an interview. Our honoured guest works for an internationally renowned and highly respected organization utilized and appreciated by most of the people she calls.

“I didn’t believe that either when they hired me,” she says. “I clued in pretty quick that people get all excited to hear from us. Oftentimes they say they just called us. It’s like they’re psychic or something.” A little smile forms as she explains you can learn a lot about people from the way they answer the phone. “You get this huge roar when they pick up,” she says. “They look at the call display and see Blocked or Private Caller and right away they get anxious. It’s a form of fear.”

I tell her she missed her calling and should be a social worker instead, and then I ask why they block their calls in the first place. She explains that they can fix it so the number shows.

She nods. “There were a few times I asked if the respondent was okay or needed help.” She sees the question mark on my face. “A couple of people breathed like they were four minutes from a heart attack. One lady said her daughter just died, and a few people said their spouse just passed away. You feel like a vulture. We can’t know what happens before we call someone.”

“What keeps you there?”

“People welcome us, and if someone asks me to stop calling, I do.” She smiles. “One respondent sang me a happy little song and hung up before I could thank him. I get blessings. Some folk are so cheerful it spills over the phone. There are laughs too, like the kid who answers the phone like he has a suit on, and then bellows for his mother.”

“Why do you always call at meal times?” The burning question.

“Define mealtime,” she fires back. “If I hear forks going in the background I always ask if I should call back later. And then I do it their way.” She looks at her watch. “Oops. Gotta get back to work.”

--lmg

Linda M. Gigliotti has 20 years experience helping people produce excellent writing. She offers tutorial in the preparation of writing assignments for students, and proofreading services for other users of the written word.

E-mail Linda at:

Linda.Gigliotti@castanet.net 

or call her office at 250-765-2221.