Lost in Translation

Don’t you just love this business?

Not the money (well maybe the money…) but also the stories?

I know I’m going to be telling this one for years: I’d done my six – a spin around town, someone coming to the door, someone else ringing up to sell me something…

Now I was on my way to the Essex COP to meet a new distributor and his first prospect. Question: How best to use the time on the A12? I could listen to an inspiring CD or I could make some calls.

Well, I still had some spaces in the Win-a-Mini schedule for Wyevales so maybe it was time to ring Tim Douglas in case he didn’t know (or to put it another way to suggest tactfully that he ought to book a couple of slots).

Very slowly and deliberately I spoke to the Blackberry: “Call Tim Douglas.”

“Are you saying ‘Call Tim Douglas?’” said the lady in the Blackberry – at least I presume that’s what she said . I often wonder why she has a sock in her mouth.

The voice that answered was not Tim. I glanced at the screen. It told me I was calling Clint Sanders. Who was Clint Sanders? The fact that his number was in my phone meant that I must have talked to him sometime – but without stopping and investigating, I had no idea when or why.

But I could make an educated guess: “Did we ever talk about you making money with TelecomPlus and the Utility Warehouse?"

Oh yes, now he remembered. Something to do with telephones and electricity wasn’t it?

And so as the Mini hummed on its way, Clint Sanders took his second look at the business - all the way from “What we’ve got here is a discount club…” to “So, d’you want to give it a go.”

I’d like to be able to report that he went straight onto the website and signed up but this is reality. He does, on the other hand, want me to ring him on Friday morning when he’s checked it out.

And Tim? Must remember to give him a ring…