Implementing a pre-call
May 16, 2024
By Jeff Becraft
Recently I was speaking at a camp and the song leader brought up a scenario that I had forgotten about. I had called him one day while driving, but right after he answered, I look at my insulin pump and my sugar level was dropping dramatically. I figured this is not a good idea… I had better pull into a parking lot and eat some glucose tablets until things level out. And this is right when he answers the phone.
So I say to him, “Hey, can I call you back?” He says, “Sure,” and I reply, “Okay, I’ll call you back.”
And there I am, sitting in the parking lot, waiting until the glucose kicks in and things stabilize with the sugar levels before I get back on the road.
Well, I then call Jason back. And right when he answers the phone, I get a phone call from my wife. I rarely get a phone call from my wife while she is at work so I figure I need to take this. So, I say to him right off the bat, “Hey, can I call you back?”
He said, “Sure,” and I said, “Okay, I’ll call you right back.”
I had forgotten about this scenario but he brought it up to the group and said, “You know how you call someone and they’ll say to you, ‘Hey, can I call you right back?’ Well, Becraft, he does it differently. He calls you up and then tells you he’ll call you right back. It’s kind of like a pre-call, you know, kind of setting you up for a call.”
I had forgotten about it and I laughed about it as he was telling them this. And then he emphasized to them, “He not only did this once, he did this twice.”
As I was talking to some people about it afterwards, I explained, “Well, it’s just like being in the on-deck circle in baseball. ‘Hey, get ready. I’m getting ready to call you. It’s your turn next.’ Yeah… it’s like giving them a pre-call.”
Who knows… maybe someday this will be a pretty good business scenario. Call someone up, tee the ball up and tell them, “Hey, I’m going to be calling you right back.” And so they are expecting you.
Or maybe not.
Either way, it is still a great day to have a great day!
Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope and the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Our Place of Hope is a paradigm shift for people living with mental illness that encourages them to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. You can connect with Jeff at [email protected].
