Calling Tactics

First off I want to say how much I appreciate a good sales professional. I engage with several quite often and have some great new and multi-year relationships. I was in the field before going captive and becoming the CIO of a small bank. I try to give reps the time of day and at least a courteous not interested (if I'm not) but lately there's an approach tactic that really bothers me and in my mind, crosses a major boundary. Calling my personal cell phone number, using an unpublished local number tells me two things:

  • This person or organization does not respect my personal time, they don't know if I'm out of the office/on vacation/dealing with a family medical issue/etc, but decided to call my cell phone instead of my published company number anyway.
  • This person or organization is attempting to deceive me to get a conversation.

I absolutely understand how difficult it is to get through to business decision makers. I don't blame anyone for hustling and trying different angles, but at least for me and a lot of the people I network with, this one is a bridge too far. If you can't convince people to talk to you without resorting to invading their personal life, you need to re-evaluate your tactics and whether the product you're repping is really a good fit.

Posted Jul 13, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

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