I picked up the office line and a live human, who sounded very much like a robot, said in a machine gun tempo:

“Hello I’m with XYZ Associates and this is not a sales call, it’s a survey and we’d appreciate your opinion. Who is the person who handles the bills for your SBC phone account?”

You know, I know, and probably everybody knows that this is patently false.

SBC has nothing to do with this survey. It’s a competing carrier that wants to identify the person who can switch the service to them.

And if they can get that person to come to the line, a sales effort will definitely be made.

What do you think of this approach? All may be fair in love and war, but does this also apply to selling?

How about this scenario:

You’ve been trying to reach someone that you believe is ducking your calls. Should you use a false name to get him or her on the line?

What if you call the customer service department of his company and ask to be transferred to him, knowing if they comply, you’ll appear as a company insider on his telephone display.

Is that fair?

Where should you draw the line between what is permissible, or ethical, and what isn’t?

I’m not going to tell you!

I believe you should figure it out for yourself, given your values. Once you do, you’ll probably feel a lot better about yourself, sound more confident as a result, and actually have your calls accepted with greater frequency.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com