May 21, 2009
This has worked well for me:
1) Answer.
2) Politely ask them to hold while you get the person they're calling for.
3) Put them on 3-way with the local movie theater* line-up.
Some will actually listen to the whole line-up. I would too, if my job sucked that bad. *Substitute theater with weather line or sex line randomly*. Variety is the spice of life.
When those tactics inevitably grow old, purchase an air horn, speak VERY quietly when you answer until you are sure the caller is listening intently with the volume topped out, and RECIPROCATE THE LOVE.