OK, I don't know if the women of Western MA are upset because of David Letterman's public skewering of Paris Hilton, or because Brit-Brit got her babies taken away, but today has been a day of crabby mean switchboard operators and marketing departments. Seriously, people! I'm offering to put your company/hospital/whatever in a book and y'all could not be nastier. Sigh. Here's hoping it all blows over by tomorrow; I will NOT be able to maintain my cheery exterior if this goes on.
This is for your book, right? Assuming you're not trying to sell them anything, I'd suggest an opening line of, “I'm not trying to sell you anything.” As a marketing director, I can attest that a sentence like that would get my attention (as 99 out of 100 calls I get are sales people).
(forgot to sign that comment… it was me. -PH)
The thing is, I say that! “No obligation, totally free, no sales.” Happily, the minute I posted this post, the next three people I talked to were sweet as pie, and one even remembered me from a charity donation I made when I was working at the place that fired me when I was pregnant.