[Fredslist] Magic Man-Dan Schaefer!

[Fred Klein]

 We often talk about Gotham being a tribe and we get more evidence of this
every day as members ask for – and receive – valuable help and advice from
each other.  It’s usually tough to put a value on these interactions
because they often lead to long-term relationships that allow all parties
to experience the importance of giving to each other.

One recent event, though, had a very clear bottom line.  Most Gotham
members have followed – and many have participated in – the story of Lisa
Mueller Welsien and the notorious $7,000 T-Mobile bill.  Obviously Lisa and
her husband were the victims in this story; while they were serving as aid
workers in Nairobi, Kenya, a dishonest cell phone repair person stole their
SIM card and ran up the charges.  T-Mobile refused to budge on the bill
until Gotham got involved.

There’s one particularly magic man in Gotham who waved our magic wand in
this story that I would like to recognize and make sure everybody gets to
know.  Dr. Dan Schaefer, a member of our Diversity Group, is an executive
strategist, performance coach and confidential sounding-board who often
flies below the radar screen.  Dr. Dan likes to say that he sells mistakes.
What he actually sells is the ability to avoid expensive mistakes, and that
was exactly the tack he took with T-Mobile in order to get them to cancel
Lisa’s bill.
As someone who works with the executives at the highest levels, Dr. Dan
knows a thing or two about how they think – and how to get their attention.
When Gotham’s letter/email campaign on Lisa’s behalf first got underway
under the leadership of email member Jane Present, Dr. Dan worried that our
letters would end up where so many such letters do:  on an underling’s desk
or in the trash can.  So Dr. Dan did what he does best.  He picked up the
phone to call T-Mobile and eventually got through to someone in the
chairman’s office (thanks to the help of email member Harry Silverman).
Over several weeks – and many phone calls – Dan negotiated with T-Mobile.
When his calls were not returned, he called and left more messages.

In each conversation, Dan pointed out that this wasn’t really a fight
T-Mobile wanted to pick.  Lisa and her husband were feeding hungry people
in a war zone – and the real culprit had been caught.  If the story made
the national news media, T-Mobile definitely would not look good.  Finally,
T-Mobile blinked and offered to cut the bill in half and Lisa had to accept
the offer by May 2, but we were not satisfied with half a loaf. So Dan
asked, “Are your PR people on board with this?”  When told that they were,
he tried to contact T-Mobile’s NE regional head of sales.  He even drafted
a letter that T-Mobile could send out thanking Lisa and her husband for
their good work and forgiving the bill.  No dice.

The tipping point came when Dan asked his main contact whether she had made
the decision and advised her that she should not take responsibility for it
if she had not.  This set off a scramble at T-Mobile that eventually led to
the bill’s cancellation.  In watching all of this unfold a few things were
clear to me:  1) this seemed to be fun for Dan (he does have a young
daughter Lisa's age)and 2) he understood how the CEO and top-level
executives speak, think and react.  In this scenario, Dan helped the
company embrace the short-term discomfort of forgiving a $7,000 bill (in my
letter to the chairman I referred to it as the "$7000 Misunderstanding"),
rather than get mired in the long-term regret of negative publicity.  In
the end It was the kind of miracle only a memberof the Gotham tribe can
work.

Why did Dan do this?  Not because of the money; Lisa and her husband are
never likely to be in a position to pay Dan’s going rates.  Not for the
publicity; there was none (until I decided to write this).  Dan did it
because he lives what every Gotham member lives:  it is truly better to
give than to receive.

Well, what goes around comes around and I tip my hat to Magic Man Dan
Schaefer!  Thank you Dan for making Gotham be the best that it can be.

Klein Zelman Rothermel LLP
485 Madison Avenue, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212) 935-6020
fklein at legal.org
http://www.kleinzelman.com
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