First call

After practicing on a call simulator program, practicing with each other, and going over federal and state regulations again and again, the day finally came for live calls.

"All of you are going to screw this up," Becki said. "I'm not saying this to make you feel bad, or because I don't think any of you can do this. But this is your first call. It's not an indicator of how well you'll do. I know one girl who actually got someone to pay on her very first phone call. She was gone in three months - never hit goal once."

Mark raised his hand. "So what happened on your first call?"

Becki laughed. "Honestly? I hung up on them as soon as I got a positive ID by name. I panicked. So as long as you don't hang up, you're doing better than I did. So let's see who gets someone on the line first!"

I opened up my desk of accounts, and starting looking at them. Examining addresses, previous work...

"Nick - stop thinking so much and just call."

I looked behind me, and Becki was standing there. "You are procrastinating."

I shrugged. "I'm getting properly prepared for when I get them on the phone."

She shook her head. "You're going to get an answering machine or a wrong number 90% of the time. Stop thinking and call that number."

I pushed the dial button, and the phone rang, rang, rang - finally the system hung up on the call after the legally allowed 8 rings.

"See? Now just keep at it. Get into a rhythm." And she went over to help someone else.

I pushed the next button, a guy out in Florida who was marked as having been in prison a few months ago by our records found the previous day. Number's probably not even good at this point.

"Hello?" Gruff, male voice on the other end of the line.

"Uhhh...this call may be monitored or recorded. Can I speak to Jimmy Smith?"

Sigh. "Yeah, this is Jimmy."

My mouth went dry, and I swallowed hard. "Mr. Smith, I believe I have a business matter of yours in our office, but I need to make sure I'm speaking to the correct person. Are the last four digits of your social security number 1234?"

"Yeah, that's me."

Must. Remain. Calm.

"Ummmm...Mr. Smith, my name is Nick and I'm calling regarding your defaulted student loan debt of $2,000."

Another sigh. "Aw, shit."

Click.

I stared at the screen for a moment, turned and saw Becki looking over my shoulder.

"Not bad," she said. "You'll do just fine here."