| Dear Coach: My name is Brenden. Not Brandon, or Brendan with an "a." I try to say my name clearly but sometimes people don't get it. This is a problem when I'm cold calling and it sometimes gets to be a problem with new clients because they end up calling me by the wrong name. Should I spell my name on voicemail so they get it right? How do I correct people before it gets embarrassing and should I even care? Coach says: Dear Bender; um sorry, Brendan, I mean Brenden! Just kidding there. As a matter of fact, my brilliant nephew is named Brenden and so that's an absolutely fabulous name. Voicemail-wise, correct spelling is only important if that's part of your email or web URL. However, you could use the two 'e's as part of your ad statement. Think of superlatives that start with "e" and blend that in. I use 'excellent' because Greene must have an e on the end to find the company website (otherwise you end up finding a baseball player or racecar driver). Feel free to steal that; as in, "This is Brenden with two 'e's, as in excellent." As for clients who write or say your name wrong, try to live with it. They will probably figure it out eventually and if they're embarrassed you should try to put them at ease. But, again, if your email or URL uses that name, better set them straight. Should you care? Of course! After all, your parents went to a lot of trouble to give you a name that would create constant torture for you...er, I mean...they went through a lot of trouble to give you a name that would reflect the unique individual you probably are. And do take some time to be grateful your name isn't Alan or Allen or something crazy like that. |