One can often fend off a telemarketer with a friendly "thank you", since most callers are very nice people. I do turn evil though if someone tries to get to me with lies like "I was in the army with Mr. Spranger." (where I had never been) or "at school" (where I rarely was) or something similar.

However, there are also companies where you never get off of the list. Every week someone calls, asking "Who is in charge of your ... ".

For cases like these, we now have Mr. Neumann! Because instead of simply hanging up and still repeatedly receiving the same calls, I prefer to answer: " ... For this only Mr. Neumann is responsible. However, since Mr. Neumann is deaf, unfortunately you can only really reach him by e-mail at dirk.neumann@jarltech.de. There is no other way."

Sometimes there are newsletters that you cannot easily unsubscribe to, because you have to show interest in a specific provider. But a quick note by email, asking to please address all future messages to Mr. Neumann is polite, and the problem is immediately solved.

And lo and behold ... it works. The number of calls is less, and I do not see whether or not Mr. Neumann receives e-mails, because I have chosen a 16-digit password for him, without looking at the keyboard.

We find it funny that now also mail for Mr. Neumann comes to our office. Catalogues, giveaways and even invitations. Even this mail is not annoying, because it can be put straight into the trash can. Since Mr. Neumann is now already included in a number of marketing lists, where you can obviously not make any mention of him being deaf, several companies still call here asking for him. For example, they want to try the latest investment tricks directly from London. Of course, each caller would say that he is naturally not making an "unsolicited" call, because he has been in a business relationship with Mr. Neumann for a long time.

This just came to mind: I kindly ask our marketing department to print business cards with Mr. Neumann's contact information, which I can then use at trade shows.

It's lunch time, so I will call Mr. Neumann into the conference room, so that at least I can eat meeting biscuits in peace and quiet. And if you want to write something from the soul, simply write to dirk.neumann@jarltech.de. He is a good listener and I promise you he will not annoy you!