Editor’s note: There are new readers discovering SourceCon all of the time. With that in mind, we run popular posts from past years on occasion to highlight some of our older (but still great!) content. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
What are many of us telephone sourcers doing this Thanksgiving week and next?
We’re sourcing of course!
The holidays are EXCELLENT times to gather the information our customers are keen to garner.
The person you leave in charge at your front desk is likely to NOT be the one who normally answers the phone and rest assured, she’s much more likely to give away the keys to your kingdom than your regular receptionist.
One reason she does this is that she thinks it’s her job to be helpful. Even agreeing to work when others don’t want to should be sending you this signal and if you were smart you’d arm her with some simple directions as to how NOT be so accommodating.
If you want that particular information, we phone sourcers aren’t so likely to be so helpful – we’ll make you pay through the nose for it.
Here’s a piece for free that should ruin your holidays. Your employees like to leave “who’s in charge” messages on their VoiceMails while they’re off having a great time on your dime. Many times they’ll haplessly leave one name, title and phone number for us; sometimes they’ll leave several. It’s not unusual for them to pass the buck of responsibility by leaving information on their VoiceMails about their entire department!
Choke that one down with your turkey.
If you’re smart you’ll reverse engineer the techniques we discuss openly in our forums but many of you don’t want to take the time to decipher our mysteries.
It’s okay.
It’s why we exist.
Think of us as your impending doom.
You know all that talk you lay out about how your employees are your most important asset?
We think that too.
So do your competitors.
You know that employee who is working even when he told you he’d like off? Rest assured he’s not happy about his situation and the devil usually demands his due. He’s vulnerable, believe you me, to a sympathetic female voice.
Even your security guard might be nipping a little more than ordinary from his thermos during these festive times and who knows what might slip off his tongue?
How about that skeleton staff you think you can leave in charge while you jet off for an early season ski vacation?
Think again.
Yeah, it’s a b%@ch owning and running companies. No doubt about it. And we’re here to make your job harder.
Get used to it.
Competition is the lifeblood of our economy.
Happy Holidays and Happy Sourcing!