This morning I was coming back from a meeting when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and it said unavailable. Now, I typically do not answer those phone calls because they are usually from telemarketers. But this morning I answered because we have an unlisted home phone number and I thought it could have been my husband or my kids. I was wrong.

As soon as I answered, this man started talking about the local police department and how tough their jobs are. I agreed and could quickly see where this was going. I am not very savvy when it comes to things like this and I have to rely on my intuition as to whether it is what it sounds like or not. He then started some high-pressure sales to get me to open up my wallet and contribute to the department. I declined. My intuition said something was wrong with this phone call.

Two things tipped me off as to why this wasnt a true call from the local police department: 1. It was high-pressured sales and 2. He used a business name that I only give out when I subscribe to magazines. I am a member of two Chambers of Commerce and I have a different business name listed with them. If he was really targeting the business community like he said he was, then why didnt he go through the local Chamber of Commerce? Why did he buy my name from a magazine?

To get these answers, I called the local police department. The woman who answered said that there are businesses who hire telemarketers (and pay them well) to call people and solicit money from them for the police department or for other departments. She said the department receives very little money from those businesses and if I would like to make a donation, to make it directly to the police department.

I thanked her and hung up. Then I thanked my intuition. Again, it saved me from doing something that I wouldnt do if I had all of the information.

If you find yourself in a situation where you are not given time to research a business, please make it an automatic no. High-pressure sales are almost always an indication of something that is not legitimate or someone who is not giving you all the information you need to make a good decision. It can be hard when they are pushing a product or a service that you would normally support. All I can say is when you do your research, you will almost always find that you can go directly to the source or you can find a legitimate company to do business with.

If all else fails, use your intuition. It will always get the information right.