switch to MCI to get all the blah, blah, blah benefits of MCI service, and
so that Brad could save twenty percent on his calls to me.
“Well, I couldn’t have cared less about the benefits of MCI service; I
was perfectly happy with the long-distance company I had. But the
part about wanting to save Brad money on our calls really got to me.
For me to say that I didn’t want to be in his Calling Circle and didn’t
care about saving him money would have sounded like a real affront
to our friendship when he learned of it. So, to avoid insulting him, I
told her to switch me to MCI.
“I used to wonder why women would go to a Tupperware party just
because a friend was holding it, and then buy stuff they didn’t want
once they were there. I don’t wonder anymore.”
This reader is not alone in being able to testify to the power of the
pressures embodied in MCI’s Calling Circle idea. When Consumer
Reports magazine inquired into the practice, the MCI salesperson they
interviewed was quite succinct: “It works nine out of ten times,” he
said.
156 / Influence