Did My Persistence Hurt or Help? The Surprising Results of My Phone Calls

[Intrepid_Chef]

Some weren't home

Some were work numbers

One expressed interst in ordering off a future show.

And the last one ... sigh ... it is still so heavy on my heart. :cry:

She was a potential host at my show last November, when stoneware was on sale. She booked a party, but I was never able to get in touch with her. I finally wrote her off as a flake and moved on. But with the stoneware sale, I thought it was a good time to let her know she could save 20 percent and that prices would go up.

Her husband answered. When I told him who I was, I was shocked when he said she passed away a few months ago.

I could not apologize enough and he was very kind and said, "That's OK. Not everybody knows."

All I could manage to spit out was that he would certainly be in my prayers.

I looked up her obituary and saw that she was a 5 year lymphoma survivor, which makes me wonder how long she had been battling her illness and whether my calls to her during that time had been a disturbance.

Good thing it's after 9 because I just don't feel like making any more calls tonight.:cry:

 

[NooraK]

Awww Di, I'm sorry. That's a tough conversation. But like he said, not everyone knows. You're not going to think about notifying the Pampered Chef lady, and unless you're a friend already, you probably won't find out. We can't be expected to check the papers each day to see if our customers are still alive.

I think your response was perfect. Just take the night off, and make some more calls tomorrow.

 

[chefsteph07]

Di, you have no reason to feel guilty at all! I am so sorry for your customer, that is so tragic. Take the night off, say a prayer for her, and continue making your calls. I can't blame you for your heavy heart. I would feel the same way!

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

I am wondering ... is there a way to delete her as a customer through P3? I am concerned I'll call her in the future ... but I don't think so. There is no way I'll ever forget that phone call. (Oh, and since I work for the paper, I remembered them vividly. I talked to them for a story about six months before the show last year.)

 

[chefsteph07]

I think if you just right click on her name there will be an option to delete. If not, I'd call HO

 

[CarolynnLee]

Pray for him, Di, prayers won't help her now.

Does this verse look familiar Di?

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with
his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zeph. 3:17

Why don't you send her husband a small card, expressing your sympathy over his loss and include this beautiful verse. No apologies are necessary. A sweet note would be a blessing, though. You never know how God might use that verse in his life because another verse says, "His word never comes back void."

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

That is a great idea, Carolynn!

 

[debbie mc]

That must have been a very tough conversation to have; I can only imagine what that must have been like for you. This is just a thought.....Perhaps you can do a HWC Show at your home or Fundraiser like John does. Donate the $$ raised in memory of her or, on behalf of her husband. As John posted here earlier, May Fundraiser all about the reasons each of has for HWC. I'm not suggesting turn this unfortunate situation into a "business opportunity". I just wanted to suggest a way for you to honour her and help others.

Debbie

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Well, if I knew him better ... I would suggest that ... even though his wife was not a BREAST cancer survivor ... and I'd gladly donate the profits to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society as requested in her obit. Another option is to do a show to introduce men to the kitchen. But I don't know him (except for the one time I went to interview him over a year ago, and they were upset because other neighbors I talked to did not express similar complaints, so if he doesn't remember, it's all good.)The host she booked off of, however, is someone I know quite well ... and she knows someone who is getting married and is planning a shower-type show. So we might work some kind of fundraiser into it if she mentions it. But it was really her mom's friend, not hers so much.ETA: I learned a very valuable lessson. When people fail to return our calls, we have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what is going on in their lives. If this woman, as I suspect, was fighting a recurrance of cancer in this past year, I was quite understandably the last thing on her list. Sometimes it has nothing to do with you.

 

[NooraK]

ETA: I learned a very valuable lessson. When people fail to return our calls, we have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what is going on in their lives. If this woman, as I suspect, was fighting a recurrance of cancer in this past year, I was quite understandably the last thing on her list. Sometimes it has nothing to do with you.

That's one of the biggest things I've learned about my business in the last year. I have found that most of the time it has nothing to do with me. I look at making the calls my job. My previous position at my 9-5 was making calls out to customers, and I got to thinking one day why I had no problem doing that, yet struggled with my calls for PC. I realized it was because those other calls were my job, and if I didn't do it, I'd get fired. I just had to take that same attitude with my PC calls. If I didn't make them, I wouldn't have a business and I'd essentially be fired.

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

You know what though? Sometimes I struggle with that. In terms of ... I almost ALWAYS get a call back from sources and regular contacts on my job, unless they're gone for the day (and even then, they often call me back DAYS too late.) But I almost NEVER hear back from people for whom I leave messages. I often wonder why ... but truth be told, it's not always something I said or didn't say.

 

[Sheila]

So sad. I was actually yelled at once when I worked at the Police Department & called a home at 2AM to see if they were aware that their vehicle (which appeared to be stolen) was detained on a traffic stop & being driven by an under aged teenager. A woman answered the phone & I asked for the name that was on the vehicle registration. She immediately thought it was a prank & started yelling at me. When I assured her that this was NOT a prank and who I worked for, she changed her tone & apologized - explaining that I had just asked for her husband who had been deceased about 2 months. I of course expressed my sympathy and explained that he was still the registered owner of the vehicle and that was how I had obtained his name. She was VERY understanding (thank goodness). I felt bad that I had inadvertently invoked such strong emotions for her at 2AM. And had woken her for no reason. She sold the vehicle just after his death but the new owner failed to have the vehicle registered in his name. Unfortunately, none of us have a crystal ball to know when something like that has happened. It's nice that the widow can keep that in mind & not vent at us when we unknowingly call like that.Noora, I had a friend who used to work at a Dr's office and had a LOT of elderly patients. It was part of her job description to go through the obituaries each week and look for the names of their patients so that the office could send a condolence card to the family. Not a very fun job, but I always thought that was sweet of the Dr's to want to do that for their patients! I've never heard of anyone else doing that before. (Not like we would ever have the time for something like that!)

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Well good news. The two people I reached that night who were NOT dead both want to order! I'd push to get the show in by Monday but don't have a second one so I'm not sweating it. Will try to make calls to get this show up to the $200 level or beyond if I can.