Why I ALWAYS Take Every Phone Call

When my phone rings, I answer it unless I’m in a hypnotherapy session or in a meeting. Even when I see “This may be a spam call,” I answer it. That means I often speak to ambitious sales reps pitching automobile warranty services. In my world, that’s totally OK.

Today I was driving to a doctor’s appointment. The phone rang and my dashboard screen told me that the call was probably spam. But I answered it anyway.

“Good afternoon! This is Keith Ivey” I said.  The caller introduced herself and told me she worked for a company which supplies support to health insurance sales reps. “Do you still sell insurance?” she asked. I laughed and said: “Oh, no! Selling health insurance drove me crazy so I went back to school and learned to be a hypnotherapist!”

“Really? A hypnotherapist? I’ve never met anyone who was a hypnotherapist! How did that happen?

All of a sudden, in the space of seconds, the subject of the call totally changed. Now I was sharing with another person how I came to become a hypnotherapist and what hypnotherapy has done…and continues to do…for me.

My caller then said: “You know, I think I should schedule some time to chat with you. I call 100 people every day and I’m successful. But when I go home at night sometimes I feel as if my heart and soul have taken hits. Are you available tonight to chat after I get off work?”

She promised to call me tonight at 6pm.  Will she call? Maybe, maybe not. If she calls, will she become a client? Maybe, maybe not. Does it matter? Not one bit. What matters is that, by answering a potential spam call, I got to connect with a person I’d would have never met any other way. I got to have a brief connection moment with another person who expressed a connection need.

And I’m good with that.