Some background, I have been working in a mix of web development and marketing jobs for around 12 years now. About a week ago I decided to launch a small web design agency. To get clients and build up my portfolio a bit I launched facebook ads with a $350 promo offer. This is the first person (we’ll call her "P") to fill out my lead form.
Coming from a mostly B2B background, I screwed up by calling her on a Thursday during regular work hours (around 1PM, 10AM her time) – I went into it assuming it was the perfect time to call because it was a work day, never stopping to think someone buying a $350 website most likely has a 9-5 job and isn’t a business owner. She picks up the phone, and before I can say hello she says "what makes you think you can call me… huh… tell me… what makes you think you can call me when I’m at work… tell me… What makes you think you can call me and not leave me an email to book a time… tell me…". I don’t usually do sales calls, and I’m pretty bad on the phone so I’m terrified and all I can say is "I apologize, I will leave you an email, have a good day". The call ends there.
I send over a short email about 15 minutes later, include my calendly link, etc. Fast forward now to Saturday morning (this happened about 15 minutes ago), my ad is doing pretty good, got a few more leads and some projects booked from referrals. A few of my facebook leads are still cold, with no responses to my emails or texts yet (and no booking from P), so I decide to email / text my leads with a quick follow up and wish them a good weekend.
I get to P, and end up having the following conversation with her:
[https://imgur.com/tHBhzwl](https://imgur.com/tHBhzwl)
Now I’m sitting here confused. I know I screwed up with the initial call, and maybe I was a bit too robotic / fake with my interaction with her. I know I clarified the time zone thing twice, thats just my habit because I’ve had issues with clients over that in the past.
Also looking back on it now, I realize her name was one of those hyphenated names (like Ellie-May), but she wrote it with a space in the middle instead of a hyphen so I thought it was her middle name. So I was calling her by the wrong name the whole time.
Genuinely wondering AITA in this scenario, and if so how can I improve. This interaction has been miles apart from what I am used to in B2B settings.
NTA That exchange was strange. Just learn from your mistake and text/email to set up a phone call time at their convenience in the future,. ….though she could have easily arranged for you to call back at a better time on that first interaction. She clearly did not need or want your services.
NTA, and welcome to the customer service aspect of owning a small business, with all the excitement of selling a used blender on facebook marketplace.
NTA. You were a little overzealous but it was an honest mistake.
Always ask if this is a good time for them to talk.
NTA and I’m pretty sure you dodged a bullet there.
NTA, that person is a thing I’m apparently not supposed to say because “mental health indicators” or something.
NTA. Imagine that – if you don’t want to talk to someone while at work, you should just not answer the phone! 10am is a perfect time.
Also, you couldn’t guess her name if she wrote it wrong.
You did absolutely nothing wrong and consider yourself lucky not to ha e to deal with her further. She seems to hate Canadians for some reason too.