The best approach is usually to act like it’s your number.  If they ask for a business name, I usually say I’m not sure which account it’s under.  We’ve merged so many companies and just give a generic name or initials.  Sometimes you can guess at the type of company it might be connected to based on the purpose of the vanity number, especially if it’s a generic or popular term.

Ultimately you’re looking for a company name.  Then with the internet you can find some possible cities and get them to confirm or correct the city.  Once you have the name and city, you can often get everything else via the internet and one more call can confirm that too.

You’ll need to call multiple times, and you’ll find some people will be more helpful and responsive than others.  It’s also very important to write down at least the first name of anyone you talk to, the office or city they’re in, as well as the time and date too.  This will be very helpful for you in several ways.One of biggest mistakes most people make is, believing what phone company representative says.  Never believe anything significant without verifying the information with 2 or more representatives.  (See Phone companies do make mistakes)  I don’t have anything against phone company representatives.  I have friends and acquaintances in most phone companies.  I just have a lot of experience on this side of it and know how a little miscommunication can mess a project like this up.

You also have to realize that most Telco reps get “Cubicalitis”.  The two most common symptoms are:  1.  If they can’t find something in their computer, they don’t think it exists, and 2.  If they don’t know how to do something they think it can’t be done.  Cubicalitis is caused by working too long in a cubical and relying to much on a computer.  In many cases a loss of common sense may occur and in severe cases it can even decrease ones ability to think for themselves. 

It’s also a given that the first job of most people in a really large organization is basically C.Y.A.  The larger companies are generally more difficult because they tend to be less “human”.  The smallest companies are also difficult for different reasons because you may get the same person on subsequent calls, which is one of the reasons to always keep track of who you’ve spoken to.  Also keep in mind that the other person has some lee way on how they do their job and how much to help you.  That’s why the overall goal of this process is to make a friend, because that approach will get you a lot further than anything else.  By the way girls are often better at this than men for some reason

Another cool trick is to try to get the billing dept to fax you a copy of their bill.  Try this when the old customer owes money because the collections dept only cares about getting the money and will give you almost everything else you need.  And a bill copy is a home run because it is guaranteed to be accurate and have everything you could possibly need.  It helps if you have a toll free number going to your fax number though, because then they won’t question why you’re in a different area code.

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