I like this

There are two phone numbers on Steve Johnston’s web site. One is an ordinary landline and the other a prominently-labeled premium rate (£1.50/minute) number. When I called him this morning I used the premium rate number. I did this deliberately, partly because I was kind of pleased to be offered the choice and partly because I had a feeling it might change the nature of our call a little bit.

I was right. Our conversation, which was quite friendly because I’ve known Steve for about ten years (although I don’t think we’ve ever met – I did see him on Dragon’s Den, though), was subtly different from an ordinary sales enquiry. When Steve picked up the phone we entered into a sort of mini contractual relationship. I paid for our chat. There was an implied SLA. I learnt some interesting stuff. Steve trousered about a tenner. Everybody’s happy. Brilliant.