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I went to the website to see if I could find a name for anyone within the company. I thought if I could get a name, any name I may at least be able to reach a voicemail hit "0" and hopefully speak to a real live person.
Luck was on my side; on the website was a listing of Executives. Not that I had high expectations that any of these names were of people who were involved with planning offsite meetings and events. I decided on the name of the Vice President of something or other.
So I called the number again, dialed # for the directory and punched in the numbers that corresponded with the letters of his name. To my surprise a voice came on the line saying “John speaking” I began by introducing myself and the hotel I was representing and then explained my dilemma. I told him about going to the website and finding his name and thinking, “Hey if John McLane can’t help me, who can?” after we both chuckled, I said, “I bet you get that a lot.” To which he admitted he did but it broke the ice. I went from talking to the VP of can’t remember what, to speaking with John. (For those of you who don’t know, John McLean is the name of Bruce Willis’ character in Die Hard!)
And just as I had hoped, he came to my rescue. Giving me some details of the meetings that he oversees and let me know when they would be ready to look at planning for 2011. He recommended I call back him back at a later date and offered to introduce me to the person who handles the logistics at that time.
It’s such a great feeling to make a real connection. This is the kind of call I like to keep in my pocket so that when I’m having a slow or frustrating day, I can pull it out and smile.
Yippee-ki-yay…
