A simple question... "Do you have time?"

The Sales Guru, Jack Falvey, posted this morning in his daily blog a very important tactic to remember as we enter into the last few weeks of the year

"When we call a customer or a prospect, we have a pre-call objective (hopefully in writing, in front of us) and we don’t want to waste time getting to the point. Because we are calling “blind” (for the present), it is difficult to quickly gauge what is going on at the other end of the line. This is especially true if you are returning a call to a cell phone. Occasionally you can pick up an “I don’t have time for this call” tone of voice, but usually we merely launch into the business at hand as being the best and most direct approach.  “Do you have time to talk?” “Is this a good time to call?”