05-10-2011, 01:06 PM
I'm wondering what this is about. I subscribe to an advertising co-op for my business. When people respond to an ad, their contact info is put in a pool and divvied up to the subscribers on a rotating basis. Each subscriber gets about 1 lead per day, on average.
Naturally, with about 30 names per month, there are going to be some duplicates of common first names. So I don't think anything of it when I get multiple John's, David's, Lisa's or Linda's.
But, uncommon names are not statistically likely to appear multiple times in such a small sample, within a few days of each other, right? Well, a few months ago I noticed a lead named Bunny. A few days later, I got another lead named Bunnie. Not exactly a common name, right? At first I thought it was a duplicate but no, 1 was male and the other was female.
The next week, I got 2 Marisa's within a few days of each other.The 2 Pat's 2 days apart, and a 3rd Pat about 4 days later.
I thought, this must be part of the algorithm. It's looking at the first name. I asked the company and they assured me that wasn't the case. As a former software engineer, I didn't believe them. I thought, intentional or not, that's gotta be part of the algorithm.
But then, it started happening elsewhere. One of my customers was named Claudia. Less than a week later, I was introduced to someone names Claudia. Not a common name. I don't remember anyone names Claudia since...since...well actually the only Claudia I can think of, was a character in a book I read in 5th grade. And now I meet 2 of them within a week!
Last week, someone called about martial arts classes named Marco. Not Mark, but Marco. Less than a week later, I got another call about classes from a different Marco.
I read a book about edible weeds by an author named Sam. Right after that, I got an email from a local herbalist teaching wild weed foraging classes. Guess what his name is? Sam.
Then there were 2 Megans and 2 Zachs.
If I was reviewing hundreds, or even dozens, of names each day (like a telemarketer for example) then I wouldn't find it strange. But I'm not reviewing a list of dozens of names. I get maybe 3 or 4 calls each day about classes, and 1 lead for my other business. So we're talking about a total of a few dozen names I come across each week.
In a sample of, say, 50 names, to see several sets of duplicates of common names would be reasonable. What seems strange to me is that the duplicates are uncommon names, and they occur within a few days of each other, sometimes within 2 days of each other. And I'm getting more duplicates on uncommon names and very few dupes on the common names. And, I've had businesses for many years, and this has never happened before with such consistency.
Maybe these names are just getting more common. But it sure seems strange, sort of like being in the Twilight Zone whenever it happens.
Any thoughts?
Naturally, with about 30 names per month, there are going to be some duplicates of common first names. So I don't think anything of it when I get multiple John's, David's, Lisa's or Linda's.
But, uncommon names are not statistically likely to appear multiple times in such a small sample, within a few days of each other, right? Well, a few months ago I noticed a lead named Bunny. A few days later, I got another lead named Bunnie. Not exactly a common name, right? At first I thought it was a duplicate but no, 1 was male and the other was female.
The next week, I got 2 Marisa's within a few days of each other.The 2 Pat's 2 days apart, and a 3rd Pat about 4 days later.
I thought, this must be part of the algorithm. It's looking at the first name. I asked the company and they assured me that wasn't the case. As a former software engineer, I didn't believe them. I thought, intentional or not, that's gotta be part of the algorithm.
But then, it started happening elsewhere. One of my customers was named Claudia. Less than a week later, I was introduced to someone names Claudia. Not a common name. I don't remember anyone names Claudia since...since...well actually the only Claudia I can think of, was a character in a book I read in 5th grade. And now I meet 2 of them within a week!
Last week, someone called about martial arts classes named Marco. Not Mark, but Marco. Less than a week later, I got another call about classes from a different Marco.
I read a book about edible weeds by an author named Sam. Right after that, I got an email from a local herbalist teaching wild weed foraging classes. Guess what his name is? Sam.
Then there were 2 Megans and 2 Zachs.
If I was reviewing hundreds, or even dozens, of names each day (like a telemarketer for example) then I wouldn't find it strange. But I'm not reviewing a list of dozens of names. I get maybe 3 or 4 calls each day about classes, and 1 lead for my other business. So we're talking about a total of a few dozen names I come across each week.
In a sample of, say, 50 names, to see several sets of duplicates of common names would be reasonable. What seems strange to me is that the duplicates are uncommon names, and they occur within a few days of each other, sometimes within 2 days of each other. And I'm getting more duplicates on uncommon names and very few dupes on the common names. And, I've had businesses for many years, and this has never happened before with such consistency.
Maybe these names are just getting more common. But it sure seems strange, sort of like being in the Twilight Zone whenever it happens.
Any thoughts?
