My team and I have a way of getting messages back and forth to one another…no matter what kind of message it may be. Telephone message, FYI message, you need to do this message, whatever….we send emails. Despite being literally almost about ten feet from one another, we send emails. Why? Because we are all in the middle of something: guest card follow up, posting checks, reviewing delinquency, etc. It doesn’t matter, email is the best way for us to ensure that the other individual has gotten the message, because our email is in front of our face daily.
Anyhow, my amazing assistant manager sent me a message one evening after I’d left the office about a phone call I had received. From a detective in Mobile. Now mind you, as soon as I received the message, I responded back with “Ummmm, yea, what did he want??” Because let’s be honest, a detective with the Mobile PD has called you, requesting that you call him back, is going to leave you curious to say the least. First of all, I hadn’t been close to Mobile in quite some time. And the last time I was there, I assure you, I had done nothing to incriminate myself with a detective. (Apparently, he left no message other than for me to call him back).
Then I thought, “Ok, well he is calling my property…so maybe it has something to do with a resident???” I racked my brain thinking who in the world would have ties to Mobile, no one that I was aware of, but of course, you never really know eeeeeeverything do you? So, of course I presumed it was a resident issue and vowed to call the next morning because curiosity killed the cat and I didn’t want it killing me. (Not without a funny text from the bestie telling me that if it had anything to do with her, they’d be knocking on my door, not calling my office….got to love her!)
So the next morning I called his office promptly at 7:43am, without an answer and left a message. No return call by 8:30am and I immediately called back. And here’s what happened…..
He had found my business card amongst a thief’s items and wanted to know if I had anything missing. I said no and proceeded to tell him that if I did or if any my staff or residents did, I certainly would have been made aware of it. And if the perpetrator actually had my business card, he would have come in contact with me personally, not any of my staff. He stated that it could have come from the wallet of the victim that the perpetrator had stolen, not necessarily the perpetrator himself, but he didn’t know and was simply calling anyone that may be associated with the crime itself and reach out. I of course thanked him but then this detective made an absolutely amazing statement to me…… “Isn’t it funny, the course our business cards take….if we ever bothered to think of the route they actually travel….”
And I only bother to point this out because REALLY as professionals, when sliding our cards across the desk, or handing them out blindly to individuals we are networking with, do we really know how many hands come across that card? And it’s laughable almost to think that when we place our order for our business cards, we stay mindful to a budget and ensure we are ordering them and coding them correctly to the correct GL code? Well are we?? Office Supplies? Printing Supplies? Ooooooooor are we coding them to Marketing/Outreach? Food for thought, no? I certainly never expected that phone call to end THAT way….but I’m glad it did. One, I was able to really think of the map and the course my business card may very well take, and two, I was able to spread that same thought process to you all!
Refer to my prior blog post of NETWORKING – STEPPING OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND JUST DOING IT. But truly, handing out your business cards may be one of the easiest routes for spreading the word. I mean, really, who knew that I’d be on the phone with a detective, in Mobile, because of my business card???
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