Innovation and compe- tition are the key drivers in our industry. The world was changing; it was quite a traumatic experience to live through. We could not have done it without Steve. Michael joined us for a while, too. At first, I direct- ed him to try to go out and sell answering services. He went knocking on doors. Mike recalled the early days with a bit of laughter. “Joe Brooks taught me how to do sales. He got a life-sized poster of an Eastern Airlines stewardess and had me drag it around. I was 18. I think
Stephen Shooster 1980’s
Joe was 35 or 40, living in a nearby hotel. We propped up the poster with an easel upon enter- ing a doctor’s office thinking it would get some attention. Then we made a pitch to the girl at the front desk. We tried this gimmick for 3-4 weeks before realizing we were getting nowhere.” Steve went out with Mike to sell answering service, too. They ended up at a new building, entered the elevator, pressed the top floor, and walked out into a fully furnished space. Trou- ble was, no one was on the floor. They were impressed. There was a conference room with a giant table surrounded by chairs. They sat at the ends of that big table, felt like kings, and took some of the flyers we were trying to pass out and made paper airplanes. It was a futile task. Knocking on doors was not the way to go about selling answer- ing services. We were all frustrated trying. Joe Brooks moved on, Michael left and started his own business, and Stephen came back to the office where I could watch him. ACQUISITIONS Early on, I reached out to our local compet- itors and asked them to join a meeting. No one had done that before. They readily agreed. We met at a hotel. I brought Steve with me. Everyone shared their experiences running an answering service.
We created nice friendships and agreed to meet again. Over time, some of those owners felt they could trust me, and when they wanted to sell, I was given a chance. One of the main reasons they were selling was the daunting challenge of owning and operating comput- er equipment. It was expensive and needed constant attention. As early adopters, we were already committed. This is how we got to know, Donna Dudchok. She worked across the street from us at a competitor, Rapid Response. After closing on the purchase, the owner pulled me aside and said the first thing you want to do is get rid of that girl, referring to Donna. As it turns out he was wrong. Donna was a crackerjack at her job, a real keeper. She got along great with everybody, consistently earn- ing Operator of the Week and eventually the Hall of Fame award. About a year later we moved her into our front office as a sales secretary. She creat- ed welcome packages and sent invoices with stickers instructing customers how to forward their phones. When people walked in off the street, she greeted them. My wife, Dorothy, coached her. Donna said, “Dorothy taught me the art of making a relationship into a long- term client.”
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